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OF  CALIFORNIA 


THE  BOY'S  BOOK 
ABOUT   INDIANS. 


THE  DEATH  OF  JOHNSON  IN  COLORADO. 

Frontispiece. 


THE  BOY'S  BOOK 


ABOUT   INDIANS. 


BEING 


WHAT  I  SAW  AND  HEARD  FOR  THREE  YEARS 
ON  THE  PLAINS. 


BY  , 

^^NAJiCK 

KEY.  EDMUND  ^.  BUTTLE,    I  %  I  f- I 

POST-CHAPLAIN,  U.S.A.,  FOET  D.  A.  RCSSELL,  WYOMING  TERRITORY,  1870. 


I 


;  Like  an  old  pine-tree,  I  am  dead  at  the  top." — Speech  of  an  old  chief. 


T.  WHITTAKER, 

BIBLE    HOUSE,    NEW    YORK. 

1874. 


77 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 

J.   B.   LIPPINCOTT    &   CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


TO 
C3-EIST.   -W.    T. 

WHOSE  SPLENDID  TRIUMPHS  IN  TIMES  OF  WAR  SHED  LUSTRE  UPOS 
THE  NATION'S  HISTORY, 

AND 

WHOSE   WISE   COUNSELS   IN   TIMES   OP    PEACE    WILL 

INCREASE   THE   NATION'S   STRENGTH   AND 

PRESERVE    ITS   HONOR,    THIS 

.        LITTLE   BOOK    IS,    BY 

PERMISSION, 


jRespectfttllg    jpetlitated. 

00  - 


LETTER  FROM  GENERAL  SHERMAN. 


HEADQUARTERS,  ARMY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 

June  13th,  1870. 
Eev.  E.  B.  TUTTLE,  Fort  D.  A.  Russell,  W.  T. 

DEAR  SIR, — 1  have  your  letter  of  June  8th,  and  do  not,  of 
course,  object  to  your  dedicating  your  volume  on  Indians  to 
me.  But  please  don't  take  your  facts  from  the  newspapers,  that 
make  me  out  as  favoring  extermination. 

I  go  as  far  as  the  farthest  in  favor  of  lavishing  the  kindness 
of  our  people  and  the  bounty  of  the  general  government  on 
those  Indians  who  settle  down  to  reservations  and  make  the 
least  effort  to  acquire  new  habits ;  but  to  those  who  will  not 
settle  down,  who  cling  to  their  traditions  and  habits  of  hunt 
ing,  of  prowling  along  our  long,  thinly-settled  frontiers,  kill 
ing,  scalping,  mutilating,  robbing,  etc.,  the  sooner  they  are 
made  to  feel  the  inevitable  result  the  better  for  them  and 
for  us. 

To  those  I  would  give  what  they  ask,  war,  till  they  are 
satisfied. 

##•*##  -*## 

Yours  truly, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  General. 

(vii) 


lUTBODTJOTIOK 


THE  interest  which  boys  are  taking  in  all 
that  relates  to  our  Indian  tribes,  and  the  greedi 
ness  they  manifest  in  devouring  the  sensational 
stories  published  so  cheaply,  filling  their  imagi 
nations  with  stories  of  wild  Indian  life  on  the 
plains  and  borders,  without  regard  to  their  truth 
fulness,  cannot  but  be  harmful;  and  therefore 
the  writer,  after  three  years'  experience  on  the 
plains,  feels  desirous  of  giving  youthful  minds  a 
right  direction,  in  a  true  history  of  the  red  men 
of  our  forests.  Thus  can  they  teach  their  chil 
dren,  in  time  to  come,  what  kind  of  races  have 
peopled  this  continent;  especially  before  civili 
zation  had  marked  them  for  destruction,  and 
their  hunting-grounds  for  our  possession. 

The  EIGHTS  and  WRONGS  of  the  Indians  should 
be  told  fairly,  in  order  that  justice  may  be  done 
to  such  as  have  befriended  the  white  men  who 

(ix) 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

have  met  the  Indians  in  pioneer  life,  and  been 
befriended  often  by  the  savage,  since  the  May 
flower  landed  her  pilgrims  on  these  shores  some 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

The  writer  proposes  now  only  a  history  of 
Indians  since  he  began  to  know  the  "  Six 
Nations"  in  Western  New  York,  about  forty 
years  ago.  Since  then,  these  have  dwindled 
down  to  a  handful,  and  do  not  now  exist  in  their 
separate  tribal  relations,  but  mixed  in  with  others, 
far  away  from  the  beautiful  lakes  they  once 
inhabited. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction 9 

Where  did  the  Indians  come  from  ?         .  .         .13 

Despoiling  the  Grave  of  an  old  Onondaga  Chief         .  16 

The  Fidelity  of  an  Indian  Chief              ....  22 

Big  Thunder — a  Winnebago  Chief      ....  26 
Indian  Tradition— the  Deluge         .        .        .         .        .27 

Tribes  on  the  Plains     .        .        .    '    .        .        .         .  32 

The  Author  a  "  Medicine-man" 47 

The  Sioux  Sun  Dance — Scene  on  the  Plains  of  Young 
Warriors  exhibiting  Fortitude  and   Bravery  in  Tor 
turing  Pains — a  Horrible  Scene        .        .        .        .  48 
Julesburg       '  . .       .       -»        .        .        .        .        .        .52 

A  Brave  Boy  and  some  Indians 55 

An  Indian  Meal 56 

Shall  the  Indians  be  exterminated  ?     .         .         .         .  59 

Indians  don't  believe  half  they  hear       ....  65 

Army  Officers 66 

What  shall  be  done  ? 68 

A  Good  Joke  by  Little  Eaven 71 

How  the  Indian  is  cheated       ......  72 

Burial  of  a  Chiefs  Daughter 72 

An  Indian  Kaid  on  Sidney  Station,  Union  Pacific  Kail- 
road      .         . 75 

Why  do  Indians  scalp  their  Enemies  ?  77 

Indian  Boy's  Education 79 

Making  Presents           .  " 81 

Indians  making  Signals            ...  81 

Merciful  Indians           82 

(xi) 


xii  CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

A  Scone  at  North  Platte          .        .        ...         .        .82 

Across  the  Plains          .         .         .         .         ...          87 

"Why  does  not  the  Indian  meddle  with  the  Telegraph  ?         89 

Plum  Creek  Massacre 90 

Pawnee  Indians — Yellow  Sun  and  Blue  Hawk  .  91 

A  Trip  to  Fort  Laramie          .  .  '  ^.  -  •"•  .     *    .        .        .       92 
Moss  Agates          ..'"".»    ".         ..       .         .        •   .'"•"        95 

A  Young  Brave       .         .        •        .        .         ....       97 

The  Head  Chief— Bed  Cloud        .        .        .      V       .        100 
Bed  Cloud's  Journey       .         .        .         .         ,         .        .106 

Phil.  Kearney  Massacre       .        .         .        .     •  .         .         107 

Perilous  Adventure — Pursuit  of  a  Horse-Thief      .         .     121 
Hanging  Horse-Thieves        .        .         .    -.  .        .         .         128 

An  Indian  Fight  at  Sweetwater  Mines  »        .  •      .     131 

Indian  Attack  on  the  Stage-Coach  going  to  Denver — Bev. 

Mr.  Fuller's  Account  of  Two  Attempts  upon  his  Life    135 
Chaplain  White  says  there's  a  time  to  Pray  and  a  time  to 
Fight         .         .         .         . '••  -..s     :  ..    Vv  '  •         •         143 

Legend  of  "  Crazy  Woman's  Fork"        .         .       '.         .     145 
Phil.  Kearney  Massacre      .        ,    '    .        ...        •         149 

Mauvaises  Terres,  or  Bad  Lands,  Dakota        .         .         .     150 
Natural  History — Animals  on  the  Plains     .         .    *    .         153 
A  Night  Scene     ,..        .        .•      .        .•        ...        .158 

The  Mission-House      .»•..•"•        •        *'        •        *        *        160 

Indian  Language,  Counting,  etc 160 

Indians  attack   Lieutenant   W.    Dougherty — Fight  be 
tween  Forts  Fettermari  and  Beno     .  .         .         161 
Speech  of  "White  Shield,"  Head  Chief  of  the  Arick- 

arees 162 

Indian  Trading     ........         164 

Bed  Cloud,  Spotted  Tail,  and  their  Friends  in  Washing 
ton        .         .  .        .        ...        .         .167 

Conclusion 201 

Lord's  Prayer  in  Sioux  Language  .....     205 

Apostles'  Creed 206 

Distances  206 


THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ABOUT  INDIANS. 


WHERE    DID   THE   INDIANS    COME   FROM  I 

THE  origin  of  the  native  American  Indian  has 
puzzled  the  wisest  heads. 

The  most  plausible  theory  seems  to  be  that 
they  are  one  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel ;  that 
they  crossed  a  narrow  frith  from  the  confines  of 
Asia,  and  that  their  traditions,  it  is  said,  go  far 
to  prove  it. 

For  instance,  the  Sioux  tell  us  that  they  were, 
many  moons  ago,  set  upon  by  a  race  larger  in 
number  than  they,  and  were  driven  from  the 
north  in  great  fear,  till  they  came  to  the  banks  of 
the  Forth  Platte,  and  finding  the  river  swollen 
up  to  its  banks,  they  were  stopped  there,  with  all 
their  women,  children,  and  horses.  The  enemy 
was  pursuing,  and  their  hearts  grew  white  with 
fear.  They  made  an  offering  to  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  he  blew  a  wind  into  the  water,  so  as  to  open 
a  path  on  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  they  all  went 
B  (13) 


14  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

over  in  safety,  and  the  waters,  closing  up,  left 
their  enemies  on  the  other  side.  This,  probably, 
is  derived  from  a  tradition  of  their  forefathers, 
coming  down  to  them  from  the  passing  of  the 
children  of  Israel  through  the  Red  Sea. 

Elias  Boudinot,  many  years  ago,  and  a  minister 
in  Vermont  also,  published  books  to  show  that 
the  American  Indians  were  a  portion  of  the  lost 
tribes,  from  resemblances  between  their  religious 
customs  and  those  of  the  Israelites.  Later  still, 
a  converted  Jew  named  Simon,  undertook  to 
identify  the  ancient  South  American  races,  Mexi 
cans,  Peruvians,  etc.,  as  descendants  of  ancient 
Israel,  from  similarity  of  language  and  of  civil 
and  religious  customs.  These  authors  have  taken 
as  their  starting-point  the  resolution  which,  Esdras 
informs  us  (in  the  Apocrypha),  the  ten  tribes  took 
after  being  first  placed  in  the  cities  of  the  Medes, 
viz.,  that  they  would  leave  the  multitude  of  the 
heathen  and  go  into  a  land  wherein  never  man 
kind  dwelt,  that  they  might  there  keep  their 
laws,  which  God  gave  them;  and  they  suppose 
that,  in  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  the  tribes 
continued  in  a  northeasterly  direction  until  they 
came  to  Behring  Straits,  which  they  crossed,  and 
set  foot  on  this  continent,  spreading  over  it  from 
north  to  south,  until,  at  the  discovery  of  it  by 
Columbus,  they  had  peopled  every  part.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  this  theory  is  very  plausible,  and 
that  if  our  Indians  are  not  the  descendants  of  the 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  15 

lost  tribes  of  Israel,  they  show  by  their  traditions 
and  customs  a  knowledge  of  the  ancient  religion, 
such  as  calling  the  Great  Spirit  Yo-he-wah,  the 
Jehovah  of  the  Scriptures,  and  in  many  festivals 
corresponding  to  the  Mosaic  law.*  The  country 
to  which  the  ten  tribes,  in  a  journey  of  a  year  and 
a  half,  would  arrive,  from  the  river  Euphrates, 
east,  would  be  somewhere  adjoining  Tartary,  and 
intercourse  between  the  two  races  would  easily 
lead  to  the  adoption  of  the  religious  ideas  and 
customs  of  the  one  by  the  other. 

The  gypsy  tribes  came  from  Tartary,  and  in  my 
intercourse  with  these  wandering  people,  I  found 
they  had  a  custom  somewhat  like  our  Indians' 
practice,  in  removing  from  place  to  place.  For 
instance,  the  gypsies,  when  they  leave  a  part  of 
their  company  to  follow  them,  fix  leaves  in  such 
wise  as  to  direct  their  friends  to  follow  in  their 
course.  This  is  called  "patteran"  in  Romany  or 
gypsy  language.  And  the  Indian  cuts  a  notch  in 
a  tr*ee  as  he  passes  through  a  forest,  or  places 
stones  in  the  plains  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  in 
what  direction  he  has  gone.  An  officer  saw  a 
large  stone,  upon  which  an  Indian  had  drawn 
the  figure  of  a  soldier  on  horseback,  to  indicate 
to  others  which  way  the  soldiers  had  gone. 

Origin  of  Evil. — They  have  a  tradition  handed 
down  that  the  Great  Spirit  said  they  might  eat 

*  Labagh. 


16  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

of  all  the  animals  he  had  made,  except  the  beaver, 
But  some  bad  Indians  went  and  killed  a  beaver, 
and  the  Great  Spirit  was  angry  and  said  they 
must  all  die.  But  after  awhile  he  became  will 
ing  that  Indians  should  kill  and  eat  them,  so  the 
beaver  is  hunted  for  his  skin,  and  his  meat  is 
eaten  as  often  as  he  suffers  himself  to  be  caught. 


DESPOILING   THE    GRAVE   OF  AN   OLD    ONONDAGA 
CHIEF. 

On-on-da-ga  was  the  name  of  an  Indian  chief, 
who  died  about  the  year  1830,  near  Elbridge,  a 
town  lying  north  of  Auburn,  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  This  Indian  belonged  to  the  Onondagas, 
one  of  the  tribes  called  u  the  Six  Nations  of  the 
IROQUOIS"  (E-ro-kwa),  a  confederacy  consisting  of 
the  MOHAWKS,  ONEIDAS,  SENEGAS,  CAYUGAS,  ONON 
DAGAS,  and  TUSCARORAS  or  CHIPPEWAS.  I  was  a  lad 
at  the  time  of  this  chief's  death,  having  my  home 
in  Auburn,  £Tew  York,  where  my  father  was  the 
physician  and  surgeon  to  the  State  prison.  My 
father  had  a  cousin,  who  was  also  a  doctor  and 
surgeon,  a  man  of  stalwart  frame,  raised  in  Ver 
mont,  named  Cogswell.  He  was  proud  of  his  skill 
in  surgery,  and  devoted  to  the  science.  He  had 
learned  of  the  death  of  the  Onondaga  chief,  and 
conceived  the  idea  of  getting  the  body  out  of  the 
grave  for  the  purpose  of  dissecting  the  old  fellow, 
— that  is,  of  cutting  him  up  and  preserving  his 


ABO  [IT  INDIANA  17 

bones  to  hang  up  on  the  walls  of  his  office  ;  of 
course,  there  was  only  one  way  of  doing  it,  and 
that  was  by  stealing  the  body  under  cover  of 
night,  as  the  Indians  are  very  superstitious  and 
careful  about  the  graves  of  their  dead.  You 
know  they  place  all  the  trappings  of  the  dead — 
his  bow  and  arrows,  tomahawk  and  wampum 
— in  the  grave,  as  they  think  he  will  need  them 
to  hunt  and  supply  his  wants  with  on  his  jour 
ney  to  the  happy  hunting-grounds.  They  place 
food  and  tobacco,  with  other  things,  in  the 
grave. 

Dr.  Cogswell  took  two  men  one  night,  with  a 
wagon,  and  as  the  distance  was  only  twelve  miles, 
they  performed  the  journey  and  got  back  safely 
before  daylight,  depositing  the  body  of  the  Indian 
in  a  barn  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Hopkins,  in  the 
north  part  of  the  town.  It  was  soon  noised  about 
town  what  they  had  done,  and  there  lived  a  man 
there  who  threatened  to  go  and  inform  the  tribe 
of  the  despoiling  of  the  chiefs  grave,  unless  he 
was  paid  thirty  dollars  to  keep  silence.  The 
doctor,  being  a  bold,  courageous  man,  refused  to 
comply  with  a  request  he  had  no  right  to  make, 
because  it  was  an  attempt  to  "  levy  black  mail," 
as  it  is  called. 

Sure  enough,  he  kept  his  word,  and  told  the 
Onondagas,  who  were  living  between  Elbridge 
and  Syracuse.  They  were  very  much  exasper 
ated  when  they  heard  what  had  been  done,  and 


18  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

threatened  vengeance  on  the  town  where  the  dead 
chief  lay.  % 

The  tribe  was  soon  called  together,  and  a  march 
was  planned  to  go  up  to  Auburn  by  the  way  of 
Skaneateles  Lake, — a  beautiful  sheet  of  water 
lying  six  miles  east  of  Auburn.  They  encamped 
in  the  pine  woods, — a  range  called  the  "pine 
ridge," — half-way  between  the  two  villages,  and 
sent  a  few  of  the  tribe  into  Auburn  for  the  pur 
pose  of  trading  oft'  the  baskets  they  had  made 
for  powder  and  shot;  but  the  real  purpose  they 
had  in  view  was  to  find  out  just  where  the  body 
was  (deposited  in  the  barn  of  Mr.  Josiah  Hop 
kins),  intending  to  set  fire  to  the  barn  and  burn 
the  town,  rescuing  the  dead  chief  at  the  same 
time. 

For  several  days  the  town  was  greatly  excited, 
and  every  fireside  at  night  was  surrounded  with 
anxious  faces;  the  children  listening  with  greedy 
ears  to  narratives  of  Indian  cruelties  perpetrated 
during  the  war  with  the  English  about  Canada, 
in  1812 ;  and  I  remember  how  it  was  told  of  a 
cruel  Indian  named  Philip,  that  he  would  seize 
little  babes  from  their  mothers'  arms  and  dash 
out  their  brains  against  the  wall !  No  wonder 
we  dreamed  horrid  dreams  of  the  dusky  faces 
every  night. 

At  that  time  the  military  did  not  amount  to 
much.  There  was  a  company  of  citizen  soldiers 
there,  called  the  "  AUBURN  GUARDS,"  numbering 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  19 

about  forty  men,  with  a  captain  whose  name  I 
forget,  but  who  became  suddenly  seized  with  the 
idea  of  his  unfitness  to  defend  the  town  against 
the  threatened  Indian  invasion,  and  did  the 
wisest  thing  he  could,  and  resigned  his  commis 
sion  on  a  plea  of  "sudden  indisposition."  The 
doctor  walked  the  street  as  bold  as  a  lion,  but 
acting  also  with  the  shrewd  cunning  of  the  fox. 
And  now,  my  young  friends,  instead  of  weaving 
a  bloody  romance  in  the  style  of  the  "Dime 
Novels,"  depicting  the  terrible  massacre,  which 
might  have  happened,  with  so  great  a  wrong  to 
provoke  the  hostility  of  the  poor  Indians,  I  am 
about  to  tell  you  how  the  town  was  saved,  and 
how  the  doctor  outwitted  them.  If  you  pause 
here,  and  guess,  I  think  you  will  be  far  from  the 
mark  in  reaching  the  shrewdness  of  the  surgeon, 
who  had  not  been  bred  among  the  hills  of  old 
Vermont  for  nothing. 

As  I  said,  at  Auburn  there  is  a  State  prison, 
and  when  the  convicts  die,  their  bodies,  unless 
claimed  by  relatives  or  friends  within  twenty-four 
hours  after  death,  are  at  the  disposal  of  the  sur 
geon  for  dissection. 

As  good  luck  would  have  it,  a  negro  convict 
died  at  the  time  of  our  story;  and  the  doctor 
conceived  the  idea  of  getting  out  of  his  difficulty 
by  transferring  the  dead  body  of  the  negro  Jim 
to  the  despoiled  empty  grave  of  Onondaga  !  This 
done,  he  easily  persuaded  the  Indians  to  go  back 


20  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

and  find  the  body  of  their  chief  all  right :  and  so 
he  succeeded  in  humbugging  the  weak-minded 
Indians,  while  the  bones  of  old  Onondaga  were 
duly  prepared  and  hung  up  to  show  students  how 
Indians  and  all  men  are  made  of  bone  and 
muscle.  The  doctor  thought  he  had  done  a 
good  thing;  but  when  I  went  into  the  office  and 
saw  the  horrid  skull  grinning  at  me,  I  was 
thankful  that  the  spirit  of  old  Ouondaga  could 
not  say  of  me,  "You  did  it !" 


II. 

The  most  notable  of  the  chiefs  belonging  to 
the  Six  Nations  were  Hiawatha,  Thayendanega 
(or  Brant,  his  English  name),  Sagoyewatha,  or 
Red  Jacket, — the  most  intelligent  of  the  chiefs, 
and  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  uncle  of  General 
Parker,  a  full-blood  Chippewa,  and  at  one  time 
Indian  Commissioner  at  Washington.  (Parker 
served  as  an  aide  of  General  Grant  during  the 
war.  In  early  life,  he  was  a  pupil  at  the  normal 
school,  in  Albany;  and  was  reckoned  quite  a 
proficient  in  music  by  Prof.  Bowen.) 

Most  of  these  tribes,  inhabiting  the  country 
bordering  on  the  Mohawk  River,  Onondaga  Lake, 
Skaneateles,  Owasco,  Cayuga,  Seneca,  Ontario, 
and  Erie,  migrated  at  an  early  day  to  Green  Bay, 
and  to  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw.  As  remnants 
of  the  Onondagas  were  passing  through  Auburn, 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  21 

they  often  slept  on  the  floor  of  our  kitchen,  and 
they  never  stole  anything  or  did  us  any  harm. 
One  day,  they  were  passing  the  American  Hotel, 
and,  as  usual,  begged  a  few  sixpences  of  all  they 
met.  A  gentleman  sitting  on  the  porch  said  to 
one  of  them,  "No,  you'll  spend  it  for  whisky." 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  replied;  "give  it  to  my  wife, — he's 
a  Methodist  woman  !91 

I  met  a  tribe  of  Chippewas  at  Marquette,  a 
short  time  since,  on  Lake  Superior,  whither  they 
had  migrated  from  Green  Bay.  An-ges-ta,  the 
chief,  was  a  tall,  noble-looking  fellow.  He  wanted 
the  church  to  help  his  people,  who  were  very  poor. 

Said  he,  "  We  lived  in  Green  Bay  a  great 
while,  but  when  I  looked  into  our  cabins  and 
saw  so  many  of  them  empty,  and  into  the  grave 
yard,  and  counted  more  graves  than  we  had 
living,  my  heart  was  sad,  and  I  went  away  far 
ther  toward  the  setting  sun  !" 

He  made  an  eloquent  speech  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales  on  his  visit  to  the  West,  and  it  was  pro 
nounced  a  tine  piece  of  natural  oratory. 

A  few  remnants  of  the  New  York  tribes  are 
living  not  far  from  Buffalo,  on  a  reservation, 
where  they  cultivate  farms  and  have  schools  and 
churches. 

Such  were  the  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas, 
Senecas,  Mohawks,  and  Chippewas.  Only  one 
band  is  left  in  New  York  State  now,  that  of  the 
Ouondagas. 


22  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

The  present  generation  of  grown  people  have 
read  with  delight  the  beautiful  novels  of  J.  Fen- 
imore  Cooper,  Esq.,  but  they  have  been  disap 
pointed  in  not  finding  any  living  examples  of  his 
noble  heroes.  As  a  general  thing,  the  Indian  of 
our  day  is  an  untidy  lord  of  the  soil,  over  which 
he  roams  unfettered  by  any  laws  of  society,  and 
often — in  his  wild  state — not  controlled  by  its 
decencies  or  in  possession  of  its  privileges.  But 
I  think  this  is  the  fault  of  Christians  more  inter 
ested  in  foreign  pagans,  while  neglecting  these 
heathen  at  our  own  doors. 


THE   FIDELITY   OF   AN   INDIAN   CHIEF. 

The  following  story  about  an  Oneida  chief  is 
told  by  Judge  W : 

Early  in  the  settlement  of  the  western  part  of 
"New  York,  the  judge  was  living  in  Whitesboro', 
four  miles  west  of  LTtica.  All  around  was  an  un 
broken  forest  of  beech,  maple,  and  other  trees, 
held  by  wild  tribes  of  Indians,  who  had  beenYnr 

ever  so  long  owners  of  the  soil.  Judge  W , 

feeling  how*much  he  was  at  their  mercy  in  his 
lonely  place,  was  anxious  to  keep  on  good  terms 
with  them,  and  secure  their  friendship  in  return. 

Many  of  the  chiefs  had  heard  of  his  friendly 
ways,  and  went  to  see  him,  carrying  presents, 
because  of  the  gifts  he  had  sent  them  ;  but  he 
was  much  troubled  that  an  old  chief  of  the  tribe, 


ISAAC  H.  TUTTLE,  A  CONVERTED  INDIAN  CHIEF. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  23 

having  great  influence  with  his  people,  had  never 
come  to  see  him,  or  sent  him  any  presents,  or 
shown  any  signs  of  welcome.  After  awhile  the 
judge  made  up  his  mind  to  go  and  see  the  sachem 
in  his  wigwam,  and  thus  secure  a  friendship  he 
might  rely  on  in  case  of  any  difficulty.  His 
family  was  small, — only  his  daughter,  a  widow, 
and  her  only  child,  a  tine  boy,  five  years  old.  So, 
one  day  he  went  to  pay  the  chief  a  visit,  taking 
the  widow  and  her  sou  along  with  him.  He 
found  him  seated  at  the  door  of  his  tent,  enjoy 
ing  a  nice  breeze  of  a  fine  summer's  morning, 
and  was  welcomed  by  the  old  chief  with  kind 
manners  and  the  word  "  Sago,"  meaning,  "  How 

do  you  do  ?"  JudgeW presented  his  daughter 

and  her  little  boy  to  the  old  chief,  and  said  they 
had  come  to  live  in  his  country;  they  were 
anxious  to  live  in  peace  with  them,  and  introduce 
among  them  the  arts  of  civilization.  Listening 
to  these  words,  the  chief  said, — 

"Brother,  you  ask  much  and  promise  much; 
what  pledge  can  you  give  of  your  good  faith  ?" 

Judge. — "  The  honor  of  a  man  who  never  knew 
deceit.'' 

Sachem. — "  The  white  man's  word  may  be  good 
to  the  white  man,  yet  it  is  but  wind  when  spoken 
to  the  Indian." 

Judge. — "  I  have  put  my  life  into  your  hands  by 
coming  hither ;  is  not  this  a  proof  of  my  good 
intentions  ?  I  have  trusted  the  Indian,  and  I  will 


24  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

not  believe  that  he  will  abuse  or  betray  my 
trust." 

"So  much  is  well,"  said  the  chief;  "the 
Indian  repays  trust  with  trust :  if  you  will  hurt 
him,  he  will  hurt  you.  But  I  must  have  a  pledge. 
Leave  this  boy  with  me  in  my  wigwam,  and  I 
will  bring  him  back  to  you  in  three  days  with 
my  answer." 

If  an  arrow  had  pierced  the  bosom  of  the 
young  mother,  she  could  not  have  felt  a  sharper 
pang  than  that  which  the  Indian's  proposal  had 
caused  her. 

She  flew  towards  her  boy,  who  stood  beside 
the  chief  looking  into  his  face  with  pleased  and 
innocent  wonder,  and,  snatching  him  to  her  arms, 
would  have  rushed  away  with  him. 

A  gloomy  frown  came  over  the  sachem's  brow, 
and  he  remained  silent. 

The  judge  knew  that  all  their  lives  depended 
upon  a  right  action  at  once ;  and  following  his 
daughter,  who  was  retreating  with  her  child  into 
the  woods,  he  said  to  her,  "  Stay,  stay,  my  daugh 
ter;  bring  back  the  child,  I  beg  of  you  !  I  would 
not  risk  a  hair  of  his  head,  for  he  is  as  dear  to  me 
as  to  you, — but,  my  child,  he  must  remain  with 
the  chief!  God  will  watch  over  him,  and  he  will 
be  as  safe  in  the  sachem's  wigwam  as  in  your  arms 
beneath  your  own  roof."  She  yielded,  and  her 
darling  boy  was  left ;  but  who  can  tell  the  agony 
of  the  mother's  heart  during  the  following  days  ? 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  25 

Every  night  she  awoke  from  her  sleep,  seem 
ing  to  hear  the  screams  of  her  child  calling  upon 
its  mother  for  help.  How  slowly  and  heavily 
passed  the  hours  away.  But  at  last  the  third  day 
came.  The  morning  waned  away,  and  the  after 
noon  was  far  advanced,  yet  the  chief  came  not. 
There  was  sorrow  over  the  whole  home,  and  the 
mother,  pale  and  silent,  walked  her  room  in  de 
spair.  The  judge,  tilled  with  anxious  doubts  and 
fears,  looked  through  the  opening  in  the  forest 
towards  the  sachem's  abode. 

At  last,  as  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun  were 
thrown  upon  the  tops  of  the-tall  trees  around,  the 
eagle  feathers  of  the  chief  were  seen  dancing 
above  the  bushes  in  the  distance.  He  came 
rapidly,  and  the  little  boy  was  at  his  side.  He 
was  gayly  attired  as  a  young  chief:  his  feet 
dressed  in  moccasins,  a  fine  beaver-skin  thrown 
over  his  shoulders,  and  eagle's  feathers  stuck  in 
his  hair.  He  was  laughing  and  gay,  and  so 
proud  of  his  honors  that  he-eeemed  two  inches 
taller  than  before.  He  was  soon  clasped  in  his 
mother's  arms,  and  in  that  brief  moment  of  joy 
she  seemed  to  pass  from  death  to  life. 

"The  white  man  has  conquered!"  said  the 
chief;  "  hereafter  let  us  be  friends.  You  have 
trusted  the  Indian  ;  he  will  repay  you  with  confi 
dence  and  kindness." 

And  he  was  true  to  his  word.  Judge  W 

lived  many  years,  laying  there  the  foundation  of 


26  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

that  flourishing  community  which  has  spread  over 
a  wide  extent  of  western  NQW  York. 

The  Far  West,  in  my  childhood,  meant  the 
"  Genesee  country,"  as  far  as  the  falls  of  Niagara. 

BIQ   THUNDER — A  WINNEBAGO   CHIEF. 

The  Winnebago  Indians  migrated  from  Belvi- 
dere,  Illinois,  on  the  Kish-wau-kie  River,  to  Min 
nesota,  and  thence  to  the  Omaha  reservation,  in 
Nebraska.  At  Belvidere,  there  is  a  mound  on 
which  Big  Thunder  when  he  died  was  set  up,  his 
body  supported  by  posts  driven  in  the  ground. 
This  was  done  at  his  dying  request,  and  in  ac 
cord  with  his  prophecy  to  his  tribe :  "  That  there 
was  to  be  a  great  and  terrible  fight  between  the 
white  and  red  men.  And  when  the  red  men  were 
about  to  be  beaten  in  the  battle,  he  would  come 
to  life  again,  and  rising  up  with  a  shout,  would 
lead  his  people  to  victory !"  His  tribe  would 
visit  the  spot  once  a  year,  where  his  body  was 
drying  away,  and  leave  tobacco  as  an  offering  £ 
and  the  white  young  men  would  surely  go  there 
soon  after  and  stow  the  plugs  away  in  their  capa 
cious  pockets.  As  the  town  became  settled, 
visitors  would  carry  off*  the  bones  as  mementos 
of  the  old  chief.  After  they  were  all  gone,  some 
wags  would  place  the  bones  of  some  dead  sheep 
for  relic-hunters  to  pick  up  and  carry  home  as 
the  bones  of  a  noble  chief. 
I  have  seen  the  stakes,  which  was  all  that  re- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  27 

mained  of  "  Big  Thunder"  after  he  was  dried  up 
and  blown  away. 


INDIAN   TRADITION — THE   DELUGE. 

The  Oneidas  have  a  tradition  about  the  deluge, 
which  is  very  singular.  According  to  their  story, 
an  unlimited  expanse  of  water  covered  the  whole 
space  now  occupied  by  the  world  we  live  in. 

At  this  time  the  whole  human  family  dwelt  in 
a  country  situated  in  the  upper  regions  of  the 
air.  Everything  needed  for  comfort  and  pleasure 
was  found.  The  people  did  not  know  what  death 
was,  nor  its  attendant,  sickness  or  disease  ;  and 
their  minds  were  free  from  jealousy,  hatred,  or 
revenge. 

At  length  it  happened  that  all  of  this  was 
changed,  and  care  and  trouble  came  to  them. 

A  certain  youth  was  seen  to  withdraw  himself 
from  the  circle  of  social  amusements,  and  he 
wandered  away  alone  in  the  groves,  as  his  favor 
ite  resort. 

Care  and  sorrow  marked  his  countenance,  and 
his  body,  from  long  abstinence  from  food,  began 
to  make  him  look  to  his  friends  like  a  skeleton 
of  a  man.  Anxious  looks  could  not  solve  the 
mystery  of  his  grief;  and  by-arid-by,  weakened 
in  body  and  soul,  he  yielded  to  his  compan 
ions,  and  promised  to  disclose  the  cause  of  his 
trouble,  on  condition  that  they  would  dig  up 


23  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

by  the  roots  a  certain  pine-tree,  lay  him  in  his 
blanket  by  the  edge  of  the  hole,  and  place  his 
wife  by  his  side ;  at  once  all  hands  were  ready. 
The  fatal  tree  was  taken  up  by  the  roots ;  in 
doing  which  the  earth  was  opened,  and  a  pas 
sage  made  into  the  abyss  below.  The  blanket 
was  spread  by  the  hole ;  the  youth  lay  upon  it 
the  wife  also  (soon  to  be  a  mother)  took  her  seat 
by  his  side.  The  crowd,  anxious  to  know  the 
cause  of  such  strange  and  unheard-of  conduct, 
pressed  close  around;  when,  all  of  a  sudden,  to 
their  horror  and  surprise,  he  seized  upon  the 
woman  and  threw  her  headlong  into  the  regions 
of  darkness  below!  Then,  rising  from  the  ground, 
he  told  the  people  that  he  had  for  some  time  sus 
pected  that  his  wife  was  untrue  to  him,  and  so, 
having  got  rid  of  the  cause  of  his  trouble,  he 
would  soon  recover  his  health  and  spirits. 

All  those  amphibious  animals  which  now  in 
habit  this  world  then  roamed  through  the  watery 
waste  to  which  this  woman,  in  her  fall,  was  now 
hastening.  The  loon  first  discovered  her  com 
ing,  and  called  a  council  in  haste  to  prepare  for 
her  reception, — observing  that  the  animal  which 
approached  was  a  human  being,  and  that  earth 
was  necessary  for  its  accommodation.  The  first 
thing  to  be  thought  of  was,  who  should  support 
the  burden  ? 

The  sea-bear  first  presented  himself  for  a  trial 
of  his  strength.  At  once  the  other  animals  gath- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  29 

ered  round  and  jumped  upon  his  back;  while 
the  bear,  unable  to  bear  up  such  a  weight,  sank 
beneath  the  water,  and  was  by  all  the  crowd 
judged  unequal  to  support  the  weight  of  the 
earth.  Several  others  presented  themselves, 
were  tried,  and  found  wanting.  But  last  of  all 
came  the  turtle,  modestly  tendering  his  broad 
shell  as  the  basis  of  the  earth  now  to  be  formed. 
The  beasts  then  made  a  trial  of  his  strength  to 
bear  by  heaping  themselves  on  his  back,  and 
finding  by  their  united  pressure  they  could  not 
sink  him  below  the  surface,  adjudged  him  the 
honor  of  supporting  the  world  on  his  back. 

Thus,  a  foundation  being  found,  the  next  sub 
ject  of  thought  was  how  to  procure  earth.  Sev 
eral  of  the  most  expert  divers  plunged  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  and  came  up  dead  ;  but  the 
mink  at  last  though  he  shared  the  same  fate, 
brought  up  in  his  claws  a  small  quantity  of  dirt. 
This  was  placed  on  the  back  of  the  turtle. 

In  the  mean  while  the  woman  kept  on  falling, 
till  at  last  she  alighted  on  the  turtle's  back.  The 
earth  had  already  grown  to  the  size  of  a  man's 
foot  where  she  stood,  with  one  foot  covering  the 
other.  By-and-by  she  had  room  for  both  feet, 
and  was  able  to  sit  down.  The  earth  continued 
to  expand,  and  when  its  plain  was  covered  with 
green  grass,  and  streams  ran,  which  poured  into 
the  ocean,  she  built  her  a  house  on  the  sea-shore. 
Not  long  after,  she  had  a  daughter,  and  she  lived 
c* 


30  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

on  what  grew  naturally,  till  the  child  was  grown 
to  be  a  woman.  Several  of  the  animals  wanted 
to  marry  her,  they  being  changed  into  the  forms 
of  young  men ;  but  the  mother  would  not  consent, 
until  the  turtle  offered  himself  as  a  beau,  and 
was  accepted.  After  she  had  lain  herself  down 
to  sleep,  the  turtle  placed  two  arrows  on  her 
body,  in  the  shape  of  a  cross  :  one  headed  with 
flint,  the  other  with  the  rough  bark  of  a  tree. 
By-and-by  she  had  two  sons,  but  died  herself. 

The  grandmother  was  so  angry  at  her  death 
that  she  threw  the  children  into  the  sea.  Scarcely 
had  she  reached  her  wigwam  when  the  children 
had  overtaken  her  at  the  door.  She  then  thought 
best  to  let  them  live ;  and  dividing  the  body  of  her 
daughter  in  two  parts,  she  threw  them  up  toward 
the  heavens,  when  one  became  the  sun,  the  other 
the  moon.  Then  day  and  night  first  began.  The 
children  soon  grew  up  to  be  men,  and  expert 
with  bow  and  arrows.  The  elder  had  the  arrow 
of  the  turtle,  which  was  pointed  with  flint ;  the 
younger  had  the  arrow  pointed  with  bark.  The 
first  was,  by  his  temper  and  skill  and  success  in 
hunting,  a  favorite  of  his  grandmother.  They 
lived  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  but  would  not  allow 
the  younger  brother,  whose  arrow  was  insuffi 
cient  to  kill  anything  but  birds,  to  share  with 
their  abundance. 

As  this  young  man  was  wandering  one  day 
along  the  shore,  he  saw  a  bird  perched  on  a 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  31 

limb  hanging  over  the  water.  He  aimed  to  kill 
it,  but  his  arrow,  till  this  time  always  sure,  went 
aside  the  mark,  and  sank  into  the  sea. 

He  determined  to  recover  it,  and  made  a  dive 
for  the  bottom.  Here,  to  his  surprise,  he  found 
himself  in  a  small  cottage.  A  fine-looking  old 
man  sitting  there  welcomed  him  with  a  smile, 
and  thus  spoke  to  him  :  "  My  son,  I  welcome  you 
to  the  home  of  your  father !  To  obtain  this  meet 
ing  I  directed  all  the  circumstances  which  have 
combined  to  bring  you  hither.  Here  is  your 
arrow,  and  an  ear  of  corn.  I  have  watched  the 
unkindness  of  your  brother,  and  now  command 
you  to  take  his  life.  When  you  return  home, 
gather  all  the  flints  you  can  find,  and  hang  up  all 
the  deer's  horns.  These  are  the  only  things  which 
will  make  an  impression  on  his  body,  which  is 
made  of  flint." 

Having  received  these  instructions,  the  young 
Indian  took  his  leave,  and,  in  a  quarrel  with  his 
brother,  drove  him  to  distant  regions,  far  beyond 
the  savannas,  in  the  southwest,  where  he  killed 
him,  and  left  his  huge  flint  form  in  the  earth. 
(Hence  the  Rocky  Mountains.)  The  great  enemy 
to  the  race  of  the  turtle  being  thus  destroyed, 
they  sprang  from  the  ground  in  human  form, 
and  multiplied  in  peace. 

The  grandmother,  roused  to  furious  resent 
ment  at  the  loss  of  her  favorite  son,  resolved  to 
be  revenged. 


32  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

For  many  days  she  caused  the  rain  to  descend 
from  the  clouds  in  torrents,  until  the  whole  sur 
face  of  the  earth,  and  even  the  highest  moun 
tains,  were  covered.  The  inhabitants  escaped  by 
fleeing  to  their  canoes.  She  then  covered  the 
earth  with  snow  ;  but  they  betook  themselves  to 
their  snow-shoes.  She  then  gave  up  the  hope  of 
destroying  them  all  at  once,  and  has  ever  since 
employed  herself  in  inflicting  smaller  evils  on  the 
world,  while  her  younger  son  displays  his  good 
and  benevolent  feelings  by  showering  blessings 
on  his  race. 

[For  this  tradition  I  am  indebted  to  ET.  P. 
Willis,  Esq.,  whose  visits  to  my  house  in  New 
York  were  among  the  events  of  early  days  never 
to  be  forgotten.] 

TRIBES   ON   THE   PLAINS. 

The  Indian  tribes  on  the  plains,  altogether, 
with  those  of  New  Mexico,  Texas,  California,  and 
Arizona,  do  not  exceed  300,000,  includinglndians, 
squaws,  and  papooses.  They  are  as  follows: 

Dakota. — Sioux  (pronounced  Soos),  of  these 
there  are  several  bands,  under  chiefs  for  each 
band,  called  Yanktons,  Poncas,  Lower  Brules, 
Lower  Yanctonais,  Two  Kettle  Sioux,  Blackfeet, 
Minneconjons,  Uncpapas,  Ogallahs,  Upper  Yanc 
tonais,  Sansarc,  Wahpeton  Sioux,  Arickarees, 
Gros  Ventres,  Meindans,  Assinaboins,  Sipetons, 
Santee. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  33 

This  nation  is  the  most  numerous  and  warlike, 
numbering  31,534.  They  range  from  Kansas,  on 
the  Republican  River,  to  Winnepeg,  on  the  north. 
A  treaty  was  made  with  these  in  1868,  between 
General  Sherman,  General  Harney  (an  old 
Indian  fighter),  General  Augur,  General  San- 
born,  General  Terry,  Colonel  Tappan,  and  Mr. 
Taylor,  Commissioner,  all  of  the  Peace  Com 
mission,  on  the  part  of  the  government,  at  Fort 
La^amie,  now  Wyoming  Territory,  with  Ma-za- 
pon-kaska,  Tah-shun-ka-co-qui-pah,  Heh-non-go- 
chat,  Mah-to-non-pah,  Little  Chief,  Makh-pi-ah- 
hi-tah,  Co-cam-i-ya-ya,  Can-te-pe-ta,  Ma-wa-tan- 
ni-hav  ska,  He-na-pin-na-ni-ca,  "Wah-pa-shaw,  and 
other  chiefs  and  headmen  of  different  tribes  of 
Sioux.  This  treaty,  among  other  things,  con 
tained  an  agreement  that,  "  If  bad  men  among 
the  whites  should  commit  any  wrong  on  the 
property  or  persons  of  Indians,  the  United  States 
would  punish  them  and  pay  for  all  losses. 

"  If  bad  men  among  the  Indians  shall  do 
wrong  to  white  men,  black,  or  Indian,  the  Indians 
making  the  treaty  shall  deliver  up  the  wrong 
doer  to  the  government,  to  be  tried  and  pun 
ished;  also  agreeing  about  certain  lands  for 
reservations,  farms,  annuities  of  goods,  etc.,  to  be 
paid  them  instead  of  money,  thus  : 

"  For  each  male  person  over  fourteen  years  of 
age,  a  suit  of  good  substantial  woolen  cloth 
ing,  etc. 

3 


34  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

"  Each  female  over  twelve,  a  flannel  skirt,  or 
goods  to  make  it,  a  pair  of  woolen  hose,  twelve 
yards  calico,  and  twelve  yards  cotton  domes 
tics,  etc. 

"  Ten  dollars  in  money  for  those  who  roam 
and  hunt,  twenty  for  those  who  engage  in  farming. 
For  such  as  farm,  a  good  American  cow  and  one 
pair  broken  oxen. 

"  1.  The  Indians  agreed  to  withdraw  all  opposi 
tion  to  railroads  built  on  the  plains. 

"  2.  They  will  not  attack  any  persons  at  home, 
or  traveling,  nor  molest  or  disturb  any  wagon 
trains,  coaches,  mules,  or  cattle  belonging  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  or  to  persons  friendly 
therewith. 

"  3.  They  will  never  capture  or  carry  off  from 
the  settlements  white  women  or  children. 

"  4.  They  will  never  kill  or  scalp  white  men, 
nor  attempt  to  do  them  harm.  The  government 
agrees  to  furnish  to  the  Indians  a  physician, 
teachers,  carpenter,  miller,  engineer,  farmer,  and 
blacksmiths,  and  ten  of  the  best  farmers  shall 
receive  five  hundred  dollars  a  year  who  will  grow 
the  best  crops." 

The  names  of  the  chiefs  who  signed  the  treaty 
are  as  follows : 

Brale  Sioux. 

Ma-za-pon-kaska,  his  x  mark,  Iron  Shell. 
Wah-pat-thah,  Rod  Leaf. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  35 

Hah-tah-pah,  Black  Horn. 
Zin-tak-gak-lat-skah,  Spotted  Tail. 
Zin-tah-skah,  White  Tail. 
Me-wah-tak-ne-ho-skah,  Tall  Mandas. 
He-cha-chat-kah,  Bad  Left  Hand. 
No-m  ah- no-pah,  Two  and  Two. 

Spotted  Tail,  who  was  at  Fort  D.  A.  Russell 
in  1868,  just  after  the  treaty,  wore  a  coon-skin 
cap, — hence  called  Spotted  Tail.  Each  chief  gets 
his  peculiar  name  from  some  event  in  his  life,  or 
some  peculiarity  of  person,  as  for  instance, — 

Tah-shun-ka-co-qui-pah,  Man  -  afraid  -  of-  his- 
horses.  His  horse  stampeded  one  day,  when  his 
tribe  was  lighting  some  other  one,  and  ran  into 
the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  When  his  owner  got 
back  again,  he  left  his  horse  behind  and  went  in 
(as  we  say),  on  foot,  to  tight  again.  It  is  not  a 
term  of  reproach,  as  he  was  not  a  coward,  but 
did  not  want  to  lose  his  horse, — hence  called 
"  Man-afraid-of-his-horses." 

OgaUahs. 

Tali  -  shun  -  ka  -  co  -  qui  -  pah,  his  x  mark,  Man 
afraid-of-his-horses. 

Sha-ton-skah,  his  x  mark,  White  Hawk. 

Sha-ton-sapah,  his  x  mark,  Black  Hawk. 

E-ga-mon-ton-ka-sapah,  his  x  mark,  Black 
Tigtr. 


36  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Oh-wah-she-cha,  his  x  mark,  Bad  Wound. 

Pah-gee,  his  x  mark,  Grass. 

Wah-non-reh-che-geh,  hisx  mark,  Ghost  Heart. 

Con-reeh,  his  x  mark,  Crow. 

Oh-he-te-kah,  his  x  mark,  The  Brave. 

Tah-ton-kah-he-yo-ta-kah,  his  x  mark,  Sitting 
Bull. 

Shou-ka-oh-wah-mon  ye,  his  x  mark,  "Whirl 
wind  Dog. 

Ha-hah-kah-tah-miech,  his  x  mark,  Poor  Elk. 

Wam-bu-lee-wah-kon,  his  x   mark,  Medicine 
Eagle. 

Chon-gah-ma-he-to-hans-ka,  his  x  mark,  High 
Wolf. 

Wah-se-chun-ta-shun-kah,  his  x  mark,  Ameri 
can  Horse. 

Mah-hah-mah-ha-mak-near,  his  x  mark,  Man 
that  walks  under  the  ground. 

Mah-to-tow-pah,  his  x  mark,  Four  Bears. 

Ma-to-wee-sha-kta,  his  x  mark,  One  that  kills 
the  bear. 

Oh-tah-kee-toka-wee-chakta,  his  x  mark,  One 
that  kills  in  a  hard  place. 

Tah-tonka-skah,  his  x  mark,  White  Bull. 

Con-ra-washta,  his  x  mark,  Pretty  Coon. 

Ha-cah-cah-she-chah,  his  x  mark,  Bad  Elk. 

Wa-ha-ka-zah-ish-tah,  his  x  mark,  Eye  Lance. 
Ma-to-ha-ke-tah,  his  x  mark,  Bear  that  looks 
behind. 

Bella-tonka-tonka,  his  x  mark,  Big  Partisan. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  37 

Mah-to-ho-honka,  his  x  mark,  Swift  Bear. 

To-wis-ne,  his  x  mark,  Cold  Place. 

Ish-tah-skah,  his  x  mark,  White  Eyes. 

Ma-ta-loo-zah,  his  x  mark,  Fast  Bear. 

As-hah-kah-nah-zhe,  his  x  mark,  Standing  Elk. 

Can-te-te-ki-ya,  his  x  mark,  The  Brave  Heart. 

Shuuka-shaton,  his  x  mark,  Day  Hawk. 

Tatanka-wakon,  his  x  mark,  Sacred  Bull. 

Mapia-shaton,  his  x  mark,  Hawk  Cloud. 

Ma-sha-a-ow,  his  x  mark,  Stands  and  Comes. 

Shon-ka-ton-ka,  his  x  mark,  Big  Dog. 

Tah-ton-kak-ta-miech,  The  Poor  Bull. 

Oh-huns-ee-ga-non-sken,  Mad  Shade. 

Thah-ton-oh-na-an-minne-ne-oh-minne,  Whirl 
ing  Hand. 

Mah-to-chun-ka-oh,  Bear's  Back. 

Che-ton-wee-koh,  Fool  Hawk. 

Wah-ho-ke-zah-ah-hah,  One  that  has  the  Lance. 

Shon-gah-manni-toh-tan-kak-seh,  Big  Wolf 
Foot. 

Eh-ton-kah,  Big  Mouth. 

(This  was  the  first  Indian  I  saw  at  North  Platte, 
when  we  came  there  in  1867.  Looking  out  of  the 
car  window,  I  called  my  wife's  attention  to  a  big 
Indian,  and  said,  "  Did  you  ever  see  such  a  big 
mouth  before  ?"  Sure  enough,  it  was  the  chief, 
and  he  was  killed  in  a  drunken  row  in  Dakota 
recently,  having  been  shot  by  Spotted  Tail.) 

Ma-pa-che-tah,  Bad  Hand. 

Wah-ke-gun-shah,  Red  Thunder.         « 


38  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

"Wak-sah,  One  that  cuts  off. 
Cham-nom-qui-yah,  One  that  presents  the  Pipe. 
Wah-ke-ke  yan-puh-tah,  Fire  Thunder. 
Mah-to-neuk-pah-ze,  Bear  with  Yellow  Ears. 
Con-reh-teh-kah,  The  Little  Crow. 
He-hup-pah-toh,  The  Blue  War  Club. 
Shon-kee-toh,  The  Blue  Horse. 
Wam-balla-oh-eonguo,  Quick  Eagle. 
Ta-tonka-juppah,  Black  Bull. 
Mo-to-ha-she-na,  The  Bear  Hide. 

Yanctonais. 

Mah-to-non-pah,  his  x  mark,  Two  Bears. 

Mah-to-hna-skin-ya,  his  x  mark,  Mad  Bear. 

He-o-pu-za,  his  x  mark,  Lousy. 

Ah-ke-che-tah-che-ca-dan,  his  x  mark,  Little 
Soldier. 

Mah-to-e-tan-chan,  his  x  mark,  Chief  Bear. 

Cu-wi-h-win,  his  x  mark,  Rotten  Stomach.' 

Skun-ka-we-tko,  his  x  mark,  Fool  Dog. 

Ish-ta-sap-pah,  his  x  mark,  Black  Eye. 

Ih-tan-chan,  his  x  mark,  the  Chief. 

I-a-wi-ca-ka,  his  x  mark,  The  One  who  tells 
the  Truth. 

Ah-ke-che-tah,  his  x  mark,  The  Soldier. 

Ta-shi-na-gi,  his  x  mark,  Yellow  Robe. 

Nah-pe-ton-ka,  his  x  mark,  Big  Hand. 

Chan-tee-we-kto,  his  x  mark,  Fool  Heart. 

Hog-gan-sah-pa,  his  x  mark,  Black  Catfish. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  39 

Mali-to-wah-kaiij  his  x  mark,  Medicine  Bear. 

Shun-ka-kan-sha,  his  x  mark,  Red  Horse. 

Wan-rode,  his  x  mark,  The  Eagle. 

Can-hpi-sa-pa,  his  x  mark,  Black  Tomahawk. 

"War-he-le-re,  his  x  mark,  Yellow  Eagle. 

Cha-ton-che-ca,  his  x  mark,  Small  Hawk,  or 
Long  Fare. 

Shu-ger-mon-e-too-ha-ska,  his  x  mark,  Tall 
Wolf. 

Ma-to-u-tah-kah,  his  x  mark,  Sitting  Bear. 

Hi-ha-cah-ge-na-skene,  his  x  mark,  Mad  Elk. 

Arapahoes. 

Little  Chief,  his  x  mark. 

Tall  Bear,  his  x  mark. 

Top  Man,  his  x  mark. 

Neva,  his  x  mark. 

The  Wounded  Bear,  his  x  mark. 

Whirlwind,  his  x  mark. 

The  Fox,  his  x  mark. 

The  Dog  Big  Mouth,  his  x  mark. 

Spotted  Wolf,  his  x  mark. 

Minneconjons. 

Heh-non-ge-chat,  One  Horn. 

Oh-pon-ah-tah-e-manne,  The  Elk  ttfat  bellows 
Walking. 

Heb-ho-lah-reh-cha-skah,  Young  White  Bull. 

Wah-cha-chum-kah-coh-kee-pah,  One  that  is 
afraid  of  Shield. 


40  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

He-hon-ne-shakta,  The  Old  Owl. 

Moe-pe-a-toh,  Blue  Cloud. 

Oh-pong-ge-le-skah,  Spotted  Elk. 

Tah-tonk-ka-hon-ke-schne,  Slow  Bull. 

Shunk-a-nee-skah-skah-a-tah-pe,  The  Dog 
Chief. 

Mah-to-tab  tonk-kah,  Bull  Bear. 

Wom-beh-le-ton-kah,  The  Big  Eagle. 

Ma-to-eh-schne-lah,  his  x  mark,  the  Lone  Bear. 

Mah-toh-ke-su-yah,  his  x  mark,  The  One  who 
remembers  the  Bear. 

Ma-toh-oh-he-to-keh,  his  x  mark,  the  Brave 
Bear. 

Eh-che-ma-heh,  his  x  mark,  The  Runner 

Ti-ki-ya,  his  x  mark,  The  Hard. 

He-ma-za,  his  x  mark,  Iron  Horn. 

Sorrel  Horse. 

Black  Coal. 

Big  Wolf. 

Knock-Knee. 

Black  Crow. 

The  Lone  Old  Man. 

Paul. 

Black  Bull. 

Big  Track. 

Black  White. 

Yellow  Hair. 

Little  Shield. 

Black  Bear. 

Wolf  Moccasin. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  41 

Big  Robe. 

Wolf  Chief. 

Friday. 

The  Foot. 

And  lastly,  "  Stinking  Saddle-Cloth !" 

Uncpapa  Sioux. 

Co-kam-i-ya-ya,  his  x  mark,  The  Man  that 
goes  in  the  Middle. 

Ma-to-ca-wa-weksa,  his  x  mark,  Bear  Rib. 

Ta-to-ka-in-yan-ke,  his  x  mark,  Running 
Antelope. 

Kan-gi-wa-ki-ta,  his  x  mark,  Looking  Crow. 

A-ki-ci-ta-han-ska,  his  x  mark,  Long  Soldier. 

Wa-ku-te-ma-ni,  his  x  mark,  The  One  who 
shoots  Walking. 

Un-kca-ki-ka,  his  x  mark,  The  Magpie. 

Kan-gi-o-ta,  his  x  mark,  Plenty  Crow. 

He-ma-za,  his  x  mark,  Iron  Horn. 

Shun-ka-i-na-pin,  his  x  mark,  Wolf  Necklace. 

I-we-hi-yu,  his  x  mark,  The  Man  who  Bleeds 
from  the  Mouth. 

He-ha-ka-pa,  his  x  mark,  Elk  Head. 

I-zu-za,  his  x  mark,  Grind  Stone. 

Shun  ka-wi-tko,  his  x  mark,  Fool  Dog. 

Ma-kpi-ya-po,  his  x  mark,  Blue  Cloud. 

Wa-mln-pi-lu-ta,  his  x  mark,  Red  Eagle. 

Ma-to-can-te,  his  x  mark,  Bear's  Heart. 

A-ki-ci-ta-i-tau-can,  his  x  mark,  Chief  Soldier. 

T>* 


42  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Blackfeet  Sioux. 

Can-te-pe-ta,  his  x  mark,  Fire  Heart. 

Wan-mdi-kte,  his  x  mark,  The  One  who  kills 
Eagle. 

Sho-ta,  his  x  mark,  Smoke. 

Wan-mdi-ma-ni,  his  x  mark,  Walking  Eagle. 

Wa-shi-eun-ya-ta-pi,  his  x  mark,  Chief  White 
Man. 

Kan-gi-i-yo-tan-ke,  his  x  mark,  Sitting  Crow. 

Pe-ji,  his  x  mark,  The  Grass. 

Kda-ma-ni,  his  x  mark,  The  One  that  rattles 
as  he  Walks. 

Wah-han-ka-sa-pa,  his  x  mark,  Black  Shield. 

Can-te-non-pa,  his  x  mark,  Two  Hearts. 

Ogallalla  Sioux. 

To-ka-in-yan-ka,  his  x  mark,  The  One  who 
goes  ahead  Kunmng. 

Ta-tan-ka-wa-kin-yan,  his  x  mark,  Thunder 
Bull. 

Sin-to-min-sa-pa,  his  x  mark,  All  over  Black. 

Can-i-ca,  his  x  mark,  The  One  who  took  the 
Stick. 

Pa-tan-ka,  his  x  mark,  Big  Head. 

Two-Kettle  Band. 

Ma-wa-tan-ni-han -ska,  his  x  mark,  Long 
Mandan. 

Can-kpe-du-ta,  his  x  mark,  Eed  War  Club. 
Can-ka-ga,  his  x  mark,  The  Log. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  43 

Sansareh  Sioux. 

He-na-pin-wa-ni-ca,  his  x  mark,  The  One  that 
has  neither  Horn. 

Wa-inlu-pi-lu-ta,  his  x  mark,  Red  Plume. 
Ci-tan-gi,  his  x  mark,  Yellow  Hawk. 
He-na-pin-wa-ni-ca,  his  x  mark,  No  Horn. 

Santee  Sioux. 

Wa-pah-shaw,  his  x  mark,  Red  Ensign. 
Wah-koo-tay,  his  x  mark,  Shooter. 
Hoo-sha-sha,  his  x  mark,  Red  Legs. 
O-wan-cha-du-ta,  his  x  mark,  Scarlet  all  over. 
Wau-mace-tan-ka,  his  x  mark,  Big  Eagle. 
Cho-tan-ka-e-na-pe,  his  x  mark,  Flute-player. 
Ta-shun-ke-mo-za,  his  x  mark,  His  Iron  Dog. 

In  Washington  Territory  are  five  bands,  such  as  the 

Spokans,  Pend  d'Oreilles,etc.,  in  all 9,285 

California. — Seven  bands,  such  as  "Wylackies,  etc 25,225 

Arizona. — Apaches,  Yumas,  Mohaves,  etc 31,570 

Oregon. — Walla-Wallas,  Cayuses,  etc 10,942 

Utah.—  Utahs  and  Utes 25,250 

Nevada. — Pi-utes,  Shoshones,  Bannacks,  Washoes,  etc.  8,200 
New  Mexico. — Navajoes,  Pueblos,  Jicarilla  Apaches, 
etc.    (with    2000  captives  held   in  peonage,  —  i.e. 

slavery)  ....." 20,036 

Colorado. — U-in-tak,  Utes 5,000 

Dakota,  including  Wyoming,  set  off  from  Dakota : 

Yancton  Sioux 2,500 

Poncas 979 

Lower  Brules 1,600 

Lower  Yanctonais 2,250 


44  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Two-Kettle  Sioux 750 

Blackfeet , 1,200 

Minneconjons 3,060 

Uncpapas 3,000 

Ogallallas 3,000 

Upper  Yanctonais 2,400 

Sansarc .  720 

Wahpeton  Sioux 1,637 

Arickarees 1,500 

Gros  Ventres 400 

Mandans 400 

Assinaboins 2,040 

Sissetons  and  other  Sioux 3,500 


31,534 

Montana. — Piegans,  Blackfeet,  Flatheads,  Gros  Ven 
tres,  Kootenays,  Crows,  etc...  19,560 

Nebraska  and  Kansas. — Winncbagoes,  Omahas,  Paw 
nees,  Sacs  and  Foxes  of  Missouri,  lowas,  Chey- 

ennes,  Arapahoes,  and  Santee  Sioux  17,995 

Central  Agency,  in  Kansas  and  Indian  Territory. — Pot- 
tawatamies,  Shawnees,  Delaware,  Osages,  Senecas, 
Kaws,  Kickapoos,  Ottawas,  Comanches,  Arapahoes, 

Cheyennes,  and  Apaches 17,422 

Southern  Agency,  Cherokee  Country. — Creeks,  Chero- 
kees,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Seminoles,  Wichitas, 
Keechies,  Wolves,  Tuscaroras,  Caddoes,  Shawnees, 

Dela  wares,  etc 48,145 

Green  Bay  Agency. — Oneidas,  Menominecs,  and  Mun- 

sees 3,036 

Wisconsin. — Chippeways  of  Mississippi 6,179 

Lake  Superior. — Chippewas,  etc.,  wandering 6,114 

Mackinac. — Pottawatamies,  etc 8,099 

New  York  State. — Cattaraugas,  Cayugas,  Onondagas, 
with  Senecas,  Allegany,  Tonawandas,  Tuscaroras, 
Oneidas,  Onondagas 4,136 

Total .. .298,528 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  45 

FRIDAY  was  found  on  the  Plains  many  years 
ago,  while  a  lad,  by  Father  de  Smet,  a  Jesuit 
missionary,  and  taken  to  St.  Louis;  where  he  was 
educated.  lie  returned  again  to  his  tribe,  and 
leads  a  roving  life.  In  November,  1869,  he  came 
to  our  post  with  Medicine-Man,  Little  Wolf,  Sorrel 
Horse,  and  Cut-Foot,  having  been  brought  down 
by  General  Augur,  Commander  of  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Platte,  to  go  up  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  as  far  as  Wind  River  Valley,  to  meet 
old  Waskakie,  head  chief  of  the  Shoshones,  and 
to  make  a  treaty  with  his  tribe,  fearing  the  south 
ern  Sioux  and  Cheyennes  would  make  war  upon 
Friday's  band,  which  numbered  only  fifteen  hun 
dred.  Not  finding  Waskakie  on  his  reservation, 
they  waited  several  weeks  for  his  return  from  the 
mountains,  where  he  was  gone  on  a  hunt  for  his 
winter's  supply  of  buffalo  and  deer  meat.  After 
waiting  as  long  as  they  could,  the  Arapahoes  left 
some  of 'their  arrows  for  Waskakie,  that  he  might 
know  they  had  been  there,  and  also  brought 
back  some  of  the  Shoshones'  arrows,  to  convince 
the  Arapahoe  Indians  that  they  had  fulfilled  their 
mission. 

At  this  time,  Friday  had  a  beautiful  set  of 
arrows,  bow  and  quiver,  which  I  desired  to 
purchase  and  carry  east,  to  show  Sunday-school 
children  the  weapons  of  Indian  warfare,  and  how 
they  kill  their  game.  Friday  would  not  sell  his 
"  outfit,"  as  it  is  called,  for  money,  but  was  will- 


46  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ing  to  "  trade"  for  a  revolver,  with  which  he  said 
he  could  hunt  buffalo.  At  first,  the  Indian  agent 
said  it  was  unlawful  to  sell  firearms  and  ammu 
nition  to  the  Indians.  This  I  told  Friday.  lie 
then  said,  "  Well,  let's  trade  on  the  sly"  This  I 
declined  to  do.  But  after  a  few  days,  I  got  per 
mission,  and  took  Friday  into  Cheyenne,  to  select 
the  pistol.  After  picking  out  a  good  one,  he  then 
begged  for  bullet-mould,  lead,  powder,  and  caps. 
A  trade  is  never  complete  with  an  Indian  as  long 
as  he  sees  anything  he  can  get  added  to  the 
bargain. 

General  Duncan,  of  the  5th  Cavalry,  tells  me 
of  one  of  his  trades  with  a  red  man  at  Fort  Lara- 
mie.  His  little  boy  took  a  fancy  to  an  Indian 
pony  one  day,  and  the  general  offered  to  exchange 
a  nice  mule  for  the  pony.  This  was  soon  done 
and  settled,  as  the  general  supposed.  But  next 
day  the  Indian  came  back  and  demanded  some 
tobacco,  sugar,  flour,  etc.  "What  for?"  de 
manded  the  general.  The  Indian  gave  him  to 
understand  that  he  did  trade  horses,  but  as  the 
mule  had  little  or  no  tail,  and  the  pony  a  long 
one,  "  he  wanted  the  sugar,  tobacco,  and  flour  to 
make  up  for  the  tail!"  After  Friday  and  his  fel 
low-chiefs  had  left  us,  some  one  wrote  this  to  a 
Chicago  paper,  as  follows : 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  47 

THE   AUTHOR    A    MEDICINE-MAN. 

The  Indians  sometimes  confer  "  brevets"  on 
distinguished  individuals  as  marks  of  favor, 

O  ' 

though  they  do  not,  or  have  not  as  yet,  scat 
tered  them  in  like  profusion,  as  in  the  army,  so 
that  the  whole  thing  has  become  a  farce. 

Mr.  Catlin,  or  Mr.  Schoolcraft  (Indian  writers 
and  painters),  was  made  a  regular  chief  of  the 
Chippewas  in  the  time  of  lied  Jacket,  a  big  chief 
at  Tonawanda.  In  the  month  of  November,  1869, 
five  Arapahoe  chiefs  came  to  Fort  Russell, — 
"Friday,"  "Little  Wolf,"-"  Cut-Foot,"  "Sorrel 
Horse,"  and  "  Head  Medicine-Man."  On  ac 
count  of  many  little  kindnesses  to  them  while 
remaining,  Friday  invited  the  writer  to  go  up 
with  the  party  to  their  home  among  the  Black 
Hills,  where  he  could  be  initiated  into  the  forms 
of  a  civil  chief.  Friday  said,  "These  fellows" 
— meaning  his  companipns — "  think  a  big  heap, 
of  you,  and  want  you  to  go  home  with  them." 
As  the  ceremony  includes  a  dog  feast,  it  was 
postponed  for  awhile.  They  called  me  "  The 
White  Medicine-Man," — and  the  feast  has  been 
partaken  of  at  different  times  by  some  officers  on 
the  plains,  who  say  dog's  meat  tastes  much  like 
mutton.  A  feast  was  made,  it  is  said,  at  Fort 
Laramie  for  the  Peace  Commission,  which  met 
there  in  1868.  There  were  Generals  Sherman, 
Ilarney,  Augur,  Terry,  Sanboru,  and  Col.  Tap- 


48  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

pan  present.  A  big  chief  had  given  the  enter 
tainment  of  dog,  in  soup,  roast,  etc.  Having  01% 
one  big  tin  dish  to  serve  the  soup  in,  and  it  being 
rather  dirty,  the  old  squaw  seized  a  pup  to  wipe 
it  out  with.  But  the  old  chief  felt  mortified  at 
it,  and  so  he  tore  off'  a  piece  of  his  shirt  and  gave 
the  pan  an  extra  wipe  ! 

THE  SIOUX  SUN  DANCE— SCENE  ON  THE  PLAINS  OF 
YOUNG  WARRIORS  EXHIBITING  FORTITUDE  AND 
RRAVERY  IN  TORTURING  PAINS — A  HORRIBLE 
SCENE. 

Red  Cloud,  ahead  chief,  lives  in  what  is  called 
the  Powder  River  country,  above  Fort  Fetter- 
man.  But  the  Sioux  nation  roam  for  hundreds 
of  miles  all  over  the  plains,  and  are  sure  to  turn 
up  just  when  and  where  they  are  least  expected. 

These  Sioux,  the  most  numerous  of  all  the 
Indian  tribes,  have  a  festive  performance,  which 
is  regarded  by  all  civilized  people  with  horror 
and  abhorrence,  and  one  which  few  can  look 
upon  with  nerve  enough  to  see  the  end. 

It  is  a  sort  of  religious  dance,  in  which  the 
young  braves  test  their  fortitude  and  stoicism  in 
resisting  pain  and  torture  without  wincing.  A 
young  officer,  who  witnessed  the  "  Sun  Dance" 
last  year,  at  the  Cheyenne  agency,  a  few  miles 
above  Fort  Sully,  on  the  Missouri  River,  gives 
the  following  account: 

"The  Indians  manifested  considerable  oppo- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  49 

a 

sition  to  having  any  whites  present.  When 
several  officers  belonging  to  the  17th  United 
States  Infantry  came  up,  lied  Leaf — a  chief  of 
Re  I  Cloud's  band — leaped  over  a  breastwork 
of  logs  and  ordered  the  troops  away.  After 
parleying  with  the  chief  some  time,  the  sol 
diers  fell  back  and  took  a  position  which  was 
not  objectionable  to  the  Indians,  but  from  which 
they  could  obtain  only  a  partial  view  of  the  per 
formance^  There  was  a  large  lodge,  built  in  shape 
of  an  amphitheatre,  with  a  hole  in  the  centre. 
The  sides  and  roof  were  covered  with  willows, 
forming  a  tolerable  screen,  but  not  so  dense 
as  to  obstruct  entirely  the  view.  The  perform 
ances  began  with  low  chants  and  incantations. 
Five  young  men  were  brought  in  and  partially 
stripped,  their  mothers  being  present  and  assist 
ing  in  the  ceremony. 

"Then  the  'Medicine-man'  began  his  part  by 
cutting  slits  in  the  flesh  of  the  young  men  and 
taking  up  the  muscles  with  pincers.  The  old 
squaws  assisted  in  lacerating  the  flesh  of  the 
boys  with  sharp  knives.  The  squaws  would  at 
the  same  time  keep  up  a  howling,  accompanied 
with  a  backward-and-forward  movement.  When 
the  muscles  were  lifted  out  by  pincers  on  the 
breast,  one  end  of  "a  kind  of  lariat  (used  for  fast 
ening  horses  while  grazing),  or  buffalo  thong,  was 
tied  to  the  bleeding  flesh,  while  the  other  end 
was  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  pole  in  the  middle 
E  4 


50  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

of  the  lodge.  The  first  young  man,  when  thus 
prepared,  commenced  dancing  around  the  circle 
in  a  most  frantic  manner,  pulling  with  all  his 
might,  so  as  to  stretch  out  the  rope,  and  by  his 
jerking  movements  loosening  himself  by  tearing 
out  the  flesh.  The  young  man's  dance  was  ac 
companied  by  a  chant  by  those  who  were  stand 
ing  around,  assisted  by  the  thumping  of  a  hideous 
drum,  to  keep  the  time.  The  young  brave  who 
was  undergoing  this  self-torture  finally  suc 
ceeded  in  tearing  himself  loose,  and  the  rope 
relaxed  from  its  sudden  tightness  and  fell  back 
toward  the  centre  pole  with  a  piece  of  the  flesh 
to  which  it  was  tied.  The  victim,  who,  up  to  this 
point,  did  not  move  a  muscle  of  his  face,  fell 
down  on  the  ground,  exhausted  from  the  pain, 
which  human  weakness  could  not  further  conceal. 
A  squaw  then  rushed  in  and  bore  the  young 
brave  away.  He  had  undergone  the  terrible 
ordeal,  and  amid  the  congratulations  of  the  old 
men,  would  be  complimented  as  a  warrior  of 
undoubted  pluck  and  acknowledged  prowess. 

"Another  of  the  young  men,  named  Charles, 
was  cut  in  two  places  under  the  shoulder  blade ; 
the  flesh  was  raised  with  pincers,  and  thongs  tied 
around  the  fleeh  and  muscles  thus  raised.  The 
thongs  reached  down  below  the  knees  and  were 
tied  to  buffalo  skulls.  With  these  heavy  weights 
dangling  at  the  ends  of  the  thongs,  the  young 
man  was  required  to  dance  around  the  circle,  to 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  51 

the  sound  of  the  drum  and  chants  of  the  by 
standers,  until  the  skulls  became  detached  by 
tearing  out  the  flesh.  They  continued  the  per 
formance  until  one  of  the  skulls  broke  loose,  but 
the  other  remained.  The  mother  of  the  young 
man  then  rushed  into  the  ring,  leading  a  pony, 
and  tied  one  end  of  the  lariat  which  was  around 
the  pony's  neck  to  the  skull,  which  was  still  fast 
ened  to  the  young  Indian.  The  latter  then  fol 
lowed  the  pony  round  the  ring,  until  nearly  ex 
hausted  he  fell  on  his  face,  and  the  skull  was 
thereby  torn  out  of  the  flesh.  The  sufferer's  voice 
grew  husky  from  joining  in  the  chant;  he  grov 
eled  on  the  ground  in  violent  contortions  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  was  then  removed  to  the  outside 
of  the  lodge. 

"  A  third  man  had  the  lariat  of  the  pony  hitched 
to  the  raised  muscles  of  hisback,  and  was  dragged 
in  this  way  several  times  round  the  ring;  but  the 
force  not  being  sufficient  to  tear  loose  from  the 
flesh,  the  pony  was  backed  up,  and  a  slack  being 
thus  taken  on  the  lariat,  the  pony  was  urged 
swiftly  forward,  and  the  sudden  jerk  tore  the 
lariat  out  of  the  flesh." 

Our  informant  having  seen  enough  of  these 
horrid  performances  to  satisfy  his  curiosity,  left 
with  his  companions,  "without  waking  to  see  the 
dance  through."  The  dance,  with  its  bloody 
orgies,  lasted  three  whole  days.  This  Sun  Dance 
is  not  as  common  as  formerly,  and  as  the  Indians 


52  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

settle  on  reservations,  it  is  wholly  done   away 
with.     The  origin  of  the  custom  is  uncertain. 

JULESBURG. 

My  experience  on  the  plains  dates  from  Sep 
tember,  1867.  The  government  ordered  me  to 
report  to  Fort  Sedgwick,  a  post  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Platte  River,  three  hundred  and 
seventy-seven  miles  west  of  Omaha.  This  post 
lies  four  miles  south  of  Juleshurg,  then  the  end  of 
the  Union  Pacific  Railroad.  There  were  five  thou 
sand  people  there,  and  it  was  said  to  he  the  most 
wicked  city  in  the  world.  Thieves  and  escaped 
convicts  came  here  to  gamble  and  lead  bad  lives, 
as  they  had  done  in  Eastern  cities,  until  driven 
away  for  fear  of  punishment :  and  often  three  or 
four  would  be  shot  down  at  night  in  drunken 
rows  with  their  companions  in  vice  and  crime. 

A  mammoth  tent  was  erected  for  a  dance- 
house  and  gamhling  purposes.  It  was  called 
"The  King  of  the  Hills/'  and  was  filled  up  with 
handsome  mirrors,  pianos,  and  furniture,  and  was 
the  scene  of  all  kinds  of  wickedness.  It  rented 
for  six  hundred  dollars  a  day ! 

Here  hundreds  of  men,  engaged  as  freighters, 
teamsters,  and  "  bull-whackers," — as  they  were 
called,  and  who  were  in  the  employ  of  Wells, 
Fargo  &  Co.  in  freighting  goods  in  large  wagons 
to  Idaho,  Montana,  Salt  Lake,  and  California, — 
would  congregate  at  night  and  gamble  and  ca- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  53 

rouse,  spending  all  their  three  months'  earnings, 
only  to  go  back,  earn  more,  and  spend  it  again  in 
this  foolish  and  wicked  manner. 

One  day  I  came  over  to  the  city,  and  while 
driving  from  the  express  office,  heard  pistol-shots, 
and  soon  saw  the  men,  women,  and  children  run 
ning  in  every  direction.  I  got  out  of  the  way,  fear 
ing  danger,  and  listened,  till  I  had  heard  at  least 
twenty  shots,  and  then  all  was  still.  I  went 
round  to  ascertain  the  cause,  and  soon  found  my 
self  among  a  crowd  of  excited  persons.  I  learned 
that  a  bad  young  man  had  robbed  a  poor  negro 
boy  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  he  had 
earned  at  the  railroad  station,  and  had  laid  it 
by  to  go  to  his  home  in  Baltimore.  The  fellow 
denied  it,  and  said  u  he'd  shoot  any  one  who 
tried  to  arrest  him."  A  police  officer  followed 
him  into  a  saloon,  when  the  thief  at  once  turned 
and  fired  at  the  officer,  wounding  him  in  his 
right  elbow,  so  he  could  not  reach  his  pistols 
in  his  belt.  But  some  friend  handed  him  one, 
and  with  it  he  knocked  the  villain  down,  behind 
a  stove.  He  then  begged  for  his  life,  saying  he 
would  give  up  the  money  and  a  thousand  dollars 
for  his  life.  But  it  was  too  late.  The  officer  shot 
him  in  the  forehead,  and  when  I  entered,  he  was 
weltering  in  a  pool  of  blood.  All  said,  "  Served 
him  right !"  This  is  a  law  of  Western  life.  If 
two  men  get  into  a  dispute,  and  one  puts  his  hand 
to  his  pocket,  as  if  to  draw  a  weapon,  the  other 


54  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

is  sure  to  shoot  his  enemy,  as  the  law  is,  a  lift 
for  a  life." 

JULESBURG  took  its  name  from  a  small  place 
just  below  Sedgwick,  where  a  Frenchman  named 
Jules  built  a  ranch  and  raised  cattle  a  long  time 
before  tbe  railroad  was  built.  Here  passengers 
to  Denver  would  get  their  meals,  and  the  horses 
were  changed  on  the  stage  route  to  Denver  and 
to  Salt  Lake.  Some  Indians  it  is  said  killed  the 
old  man  Jules,  and  his  ranch  having  been  taken 
possession  of  by  the  Indians,  was  shelled  by  can 
non  from  Fort  Sedgwick,  and  burned  down.  Mr. 
Greeley  must  remember  this  station,  which  he 
and  Mr.  Colfax  and  Gov.  Bross,  of  Illinois,  parsed 
on  their  overland  trip  to  California  some  ten 
years  ago,  and  where  they  dined  upon  the  uni 
versal  fare,— corn-bread,  coffee,  aad  bacon. 

The  city  of  Julesburg,  as  it  wa&  called  in  1867, 
was  visited  by  a  party  of  editoiv  from  Chicago, 
Cleveland,  etc.  They  came  in  one  of  Pullman's 
palace  cars  to  see  the  contractor  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Kail  road  lay  the  track,  as  many  <as  four 
miles  each  day.  Being  anxious  to  write  home  to 
their  papers  all  the  wonderful  things  they  saw 
and  heard,  they  came  across  a  strange,  wild- 
looking  man  named  "Sam  Htanton,"  dressed  in 
a  buckskin  suit,  with  a  broad-brimmed  hat.  Sam 
was  a  returned  California  miner,  of  long  expe 
rience  on  the  plains.  Him  they  invited  to  come 
into  the  beautiful  car,  to  tell  them  some  stories 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  55 

of  pioneer  life;  and,  in  order  to  incite  him,  or 
excite  his  imagination  to  do  so,  they  invited  him 
to  drink  some  champagne  wine.  As  it  happened, 
Sam  had  never  before  tasted  any  stimulants  but 
common  whisky,  and  the  champagne  getting  into 
his  head,  made  him  a  little  tipsy. 

"You  want  me  to  show  you  how  we  put  out 
the  lights  in  the  ranches,  I  suppose?" 

"Yes,"  they  said  ;  "  tell  us  anything  of  Western 
life." 

"Well,  here  goes,''  he  said,  and  at  once  drew 
his  revolver  and  began  popping  away  at  the 
beautiful  globe  lamps  which  adorned  the  car ! 
Of  course  all  the  party  stampeded  for  the  door. 
They  had  had  enough  of  Sam's  stories. 

It  is  a  rule  for  the  last  one  that  gets  into  bed 
to  put  out  the  light ;  but  a  lazy  fellow  will  crawl 
into  bed  and,  taking  aim,  extinguish  the  light  by 
firing  off  his  pistol  at  the  flame  ! 

A  "Ranch"  is  simply  a  one-story  log-house, 
vrith  two  or  three  rooms,  and  a  thatched  roof  of 
straw.  Sometimes  they  are  made  of  a-do-be, — - 
a  kind  of  dried  clay-brick,  such  as  are  found  in 
Mexico  and  some  parts  of  California  and  Texas. 

A    BRAVE    BOY   AND    SOME    INDIANS. 

When  the  railroad  had  been  built  as  far  as 
Plum  Creek,  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles  west 
of  Omaha,  in  1866,  the  track-layers  saw  a  lot  of  In- 


56  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

dians  coming  toward  them  from  over  the  bluffs; 
and  the  poor  Irishmen,  dreading  nothing  so  much 
as  the  sight  of  a  red-skin,  at  once  took  to  their 
heels  to  hide  from  the  foe.  Along  with  these  men 
were  needed  covered  wagons,  with  which  they 
carried  tools,  etc.,  and  in  which  at  night  they  slept. 
In  one  of  them  a  boy  was  sitting,  about  twelve 
or  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  saw  nothing  of  the 
stampede  of  workmen,  but  soon  was  aroused  by 
the  yell  of  the  Indians.  He  seized  a  Spencer 
rifle  lying  close  by  him,  and,  putting  the  muzzle 
through  a  slit  of  the  canvas  cover,  took  good  aim 
at  the  foremost  Indian,  and  when  within  a  few 
yards,  he  shot  off  his  rifle  and  felled  him  to  the 
ground.  Another  rode  up,  and  met  the  same 
fate.  Several  then  rushed  up  and  dragged  oft' 
the  bodies  of  the  two  Indians  slain,  and  all  at 
once  made  a  quick  retreat ! 

The  Indians  seeing  several  wagons  there,  sup 
posed  each  one  contained  armed  soldiers  or  men; 
and  they  were  quick  to  see  that  the  white  man's 
skill  was  more  than  their  bows  and  arrows.  And 
yet  there  was  only  that  brave  little  fellow,  who 
saved  the  whole  "  outfit,"  and  whose  name  ought 
to  be  recorded  as  a  true  hero. 

AN   INDIAN   MEAL. 

Boys  would  be  surprised  to  see  how  much  an 
Indian  can  eat  at  a  single  meal.  A  "  big  chief 
'.an  eat  a  whole  goose  or  turkey  at  one  sitting. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  57 

The  Indians  eat  right  along,  till  they  have  gorged 
themselves  and  can  eat  no  more.  Perhaps  it  is 
because  they  seldom  get  what  is  called  "  a  square 
meal,"  and  so  when  plenty  offers  they  make  the 
most  of  it.  One  day,  four  chiefs  of  the  Ar-ap-a- 
hoe  tribe  came  to  Fort  Russell,  to  see  about  get 
ting  rations  for  three  hundred  of  their  tribe.  They 
soon  found  their  way  to  the  commanding  officer, 
at  headquarters.  He  gave  each  one  a  cigar,  which 
they  puffed  away  at  for  some  time.  At  last  one 
of  them  made  a  motion  to  his  mouth,  signifying 
they  were  "  hungry."  Nearly  all  the  tribes  of 
wild  Indians  convey  their  ideas  more  by  signs 
than  by  words.  But  the  general  would  not  take 
the  hint.  He  said  if  he  fed  them  once,  they 
would  come  every  day.  A  lady,  however,  took 
pity  on  them,  and  said  to  me,"  Let  us  make  con 
tributions  from  each  family,  and  give  the  poor 
fellow's  something  to  eat."  Some  brought  meat, 
some  biscuit  and  bread,  and  I  made  them  some 
coffee,  after  inviting  them  to  come  into  my  yard. 
The  children,  boys  and  girls,  assembled  to  see 
the  four  chiefs  sitting  around  the  table  in  the 
yard  devour  the  food  we  had  prepared  for  them. 
There  was  no  milk  in  the  coffee,  but  I  knew 
Indians  were  not  used  to  it,  and  all  things  being 
ready,  the  coffee  hot  and  the  bacon  smoking 
and  smelling  savory,  I  expected  they  would  fall 
to  and  eat  like  good  fellows.  But  I  was  sur 
prised  that  one  of  them  looked  at  the  pail  of" 


58  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

coffee  and  gave  a  grunt  of  disapprobation.  I 
supposed  from  what  I  had  heard  that  an  Indian 
would  drink  coffee,  swallowing  the  grounds  and 
all.  But  on  a  close  look,  I  discovered  about  a 
dozen  flies  were  floating  on  top.  I  took  a  spoon 
and  removed  them,  and  tasting  it  myself,  passed 
it  round  to  each  one  in  a  bowl ;  and  this  time 
they  gave  another  grunt, — but  it  was  one  of  ap 
probation.  They  ate  and  ate  till  we  thought 
they'd  split,  and  then  asked  permission  to  carry 
off  in  a  bag  \vhat  they  could  not  stow  away  in 
their  capacious  stomachs ! 

An  Indian  seldom  shows  any  signs  of  joy  or 
of  sorrow  in  any  emotion  whatever.  But  when 
they  meet  a  white  friend,  or  are  surprised  at  any 
thing,  they  exclaim,  "How!  how!"  and  shake 
hands  all  round. 

An  Indian  trader  told  me  at  North  Platte 
some  anecdotes  of  their  characteristics.  They 
are  all  very  fond  of  sugar,  and  very  fond  of 
whisky.  They  will  often  sell  a  buffalo  robe  for  a 
bowl  of  sugar,  and  at  any  time  would  give  a  pony 
for  a  gallon  of  rye  or  rum. 

He  told  me  that  he  once  saw  an  Indian  choke 
a  squaw  to  get  a  lump  of  sugar  out  of  her  mouth 
which  he  coveted  !  And  a  storekeeper  at  Jules- 
burg  (Mr.  Pease)  said  he  sold  a  big  pup  to  an 
Indian  for  a  robe,  and  the  Indian  seized  the  dog, 
cut  his  th"oat,  vid.  soon  as  dead,  threw  pup  into 
a  kettle  to  boil  up  for  soup ! 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  59 


SHALL    THE    INDIANS    BE    EXTERMINATED? 

This  is  the  cry  of  Western  men.  It  is  very 
easy  to  talk  of  u  extermination."  General  Ilar- 
ney,  an  old  Indian  tighter,  told  General  Sherman 
that  a  general  war  with  the  Indians  would  cost 
the  government  $50,000,000  a  year,  and  stop  for 
a  long  time  the  running  of  the  Pacific  Railroad. 
They  tight  only  at  an  advantage, — when  they  out 
number  the  whites.  They  fight,  scatter  away, 
and  reunite  again  ;  hide  away  in  caiions  (canyons), 
gorges,  and  mountain  fastnesses,  where  no  soldier 
can  iind  them.  It  would  be  a  war  of  fifty  years' 
duration. 

General  Sherman  is  reported  to  have  said  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Indian  Peace  Commissioners,  at 
Fort  Laramie,  with  several  tribes,  "  Say  to  the 
head  chief  that  President  Grant  loves  the  red 
men  and  will  do  all  he  can  for  them.  But  they 
must  behave  themselves,  and  if  they  don't,  tell 
him  III  kill  them!"  The  old  chief  began  to  mut 
ter  away  something  to  himself  and  others. 

" What  does  he  say?"  said  the  general. 

"  Why,"  said  the  interpreter,  "  he  says,  <  catch 
'em  first,  then  kill  them  !'  " 

Have  they  never  been  wronged  by  white  men  ? 
Have  you  never  heard  of  the  Sand  Creek 
massacre  ? 

There  had   been   some   trouble  between   the 


60  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

• 

Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  and  some  soldiers 
near  Fort  Lyon,  in  1864,  south  of  Denver,  Colo 
rado,  where  these  Indians  have  a  reservation. 
The  origin  of  the  trouble  is  uncertain.  Major 
Anthony  was  sent  out  to  fight  them ;  but  on  his 
arrival  he  found  them  peaceable, — they  had 
given  up  their  prisoners  and  horses. 

[Indians  take  their  squaws  and  papooses  with 
them  when  they  go  on  hunting  expeditions.  The 
squaws  prepare  all  the  meat,  dry  all  the  game  for 
winter  food,  and  tan  the  buffalo-  and  deer-hides 
to  sell.  They  live  in  tents  or  lodges,  called 
"  Tepees,"  made  of  tanned  buffalo-skins,  and 
usually  hold-  about  five  persons,  in  which  they 
cook  and  sleep.  On  the  war-path,  they  leave  their 
squaws  and  papooses  in  their  villages.  This 
was  the  case  when  Colonel  Chivington  (formerly 
a  preacher)  charged  that  they  were  hostile,  as  an 
apology  for  his  wholesale  slaughter.] 

Five  hundred  Indians  of  all  ages  flocked,  soon 
as  attacked,  to  the  head  chief's  camp, — "  Black 
Kettle," — and  he  raised  the  American  flag,  with  a 
white  truce  beneath.  This,  you  know,  is  respected  in 
all  civilized  warfare.  Then  the  slaughter  began. 

One  who  saw  it  said,  "  The  troops  (mainly 
volunteers)  committed  all  manner  of  depreda 
tions  on  their  victims, — scalped  them,  knocked  out 
their  brains.  The  white  men  used  their  knives, 
cutting  squaws  to  pieces,  clubbed  little  children, 
knocking  out  their  brains  and  mutilating  their 


ABOUT  INDIANS  61 

bodies  in  every  sense  of  the  word."  Thus  imi 
tating  savage  warfare  by  nominally  Christian 
men. 

Robert  Bent  testified  thus : 

"  I  saw  a  little  girl  about  five  years  of  age,  who 
had  been  hid  in  the  sand ;  two  soldiers  discov 
ered  her,  drew  their  pistols  and  shot  her,  and 
then  pulled  her  out  of  the  sand  by  her  arm,"  etc. 

This  occurred  at  the  time  government  offi 
cials  in  Denver  had  sent  for  them, — had  a  "  talk" 
with  them, — ad  vising  them  to  go  just  where  they 
were.  Before  he  was  killed,  Black  Kettle,  one 
of  the  chiefs,  thus  addressed  the  governor  at 
Denver : 

"  We  have  come  with  our  eyes  shut,  following 
Major  Wynkoop's  handful  of  men,  like  coming 
through  the  fire.  All  we  ask  is,  that  we  may 
have  peace  with  the  whites.  We  want  to  hold 
you  by  the  hand.  You  are  our  father.  We 
have  been  traveling  through  a  cloud.  The  sky 
has  been  dark  ever  since  the  war  began. 

"  These  braves  who  are  here  with  me,  are  will 
ing  to  do  all  I  say.  -We  want  to  take  good  news 
home  to  our  people,  that  they  may  sleep  in  peace. 

"  I  have  not  come  here  with  a  little  wolf -bark  !  But 
have  come  to  talk  plain  with  you.  We  must  live 
near  the  buffalo  or  starve.  When  I  go  home,  I 
will  tell  my  people  I  have  taken  your  hand,  and 
all  of  the  white  chiefs  in  Denver,  and  then  they 
will  feel  well,  and  so  will  all  the  tribes  on  the 


62  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

plains,  when  we  have  eaten  and  drank  with 
them." 

And  yet  one  hundred  and  twenty  friendly 
Indians  were  all  slain,  and  the  war  that  followed 
cost  $40,000,000. 

A  council  of  Indians  was  held  previous  to  the 
"  Chivington  massacre,"  which  stamped  the  char 
acter  of  Black  Kettle,  the  Cheyenne  chief,  as 
nohle  and  brave.  It  seems  that  he  had  purchased 
from  an  Arapahoe  band  two  girls  named  Laura 
Roper,  aged  eighteen,  and  Belle  Ewbanks,  aged 
six  years,  who  were  captured  by  the  Indians, 
after  attacking  Roper's  ranch,  on  the  Little  Blue 
River,  in  July,  1864.  Two  little  boys  were  also 
captured  at  the  same  time.  They  were  carried 
off  to  the  Republican  River,  and  Black  Kettle 
bought  them  for  five  or  six  ponies,  to  give  them 
to  their  parents.  Certainly  a  generous  act.  lie 
gave  them  up,  and  met  the  Commissioners  in 
council,  together  with  several  Arapahoe  chiefs  of 
small  bands,  all  of  whom  were  confederate  to 
gether  to  kill  the  Commissioners  and  bring  on  a 
general  war. 

Black  Kettle  knew  it,  and  was  determined  to 
expose  the  plot  and  break  it  up.  But  the  party  of 
white  officials,  with  Colonel  E.  W.  Wynkoop, 
were  in  the  dark  about  their  evil  intentions.  The 
Indians  called  Colonel  W.  "  The  Tall  Chief  that 
don't  lie." 

"BlackKettle"— Mo-ke-ta-va  ta— Colonel  Tap- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  63 

pan  says,  "  was  the  most  remarkable  man  of  the 
age  for  magnanimity,  generosity,  courage,  and  in 
tegrity.  His  hospitality  to  destitute  emigrants 
and  travelers  on  the  plains  for  years,  had  no  limit 
within  the  utmost  extent  of  his  means;  giving 
liberally  of  his  stores  of  provisions,  clothing,  and 
horses.  His  fame  as  an  orator  was  widely  known. 
He  was  great  in  council,  and  his  word  was  law. 
Hundreds  of  whites  are  indebted  to  him  for  their 
lives.  .  ..  .  He  held  Colonel  Chivington's 
men  at  bay  for  seven  hours,  and  carried  to  a  place 
of  safety  three  hundred  of  his  women  and  chil 
dren, — twenty  of  his  braves  and  his  own  wife 
pierced  with  a  dozen  bullets. 

"  Previous  to  the  conflict,  after  his  two  brothers 
had  been  shot  down  and  cut  to  pieces  before  his 
eyes  (while  approaching  the  troops  to  notify  them 
of  the  friendly  character  of  the  Indians),  he 
aided  three  white  men  to  escape  from  the  village, 
one  of  them  a  soldier.  They  were  his  guests, 
whom  he  suspected  of  being  spies,  '  but  did  not 
know  it,'  and  they  are  now  living  to  the  eternal 
fame  and  honor  of  the  chieftain.  From  Sand 
Creek  he  fled  to  the  Sioux  camp,  where  it  was  de 
termined  to  make  war  upon  the  whites  in  retali 
ation.  He  protested  against  interfering  with 
women  and  children,  and  insisted  upon  fighting 
the  men.  He  was  overruled.  Thereupon  he  re 
signed  his  office  as  chief,  and  assumed  the  garb 
of  a  brave.  He  soon  after  made  peace  for  hia 


64  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

tribe,  which  was  faithfully  kept  until  the  burn 
ing  of  their  village  two  years  afterward.  A  war 
again  ensued,  in  which  he  took  no  part,  having 
promised  never  again  to  raise  his  hands  against 
the  whites.  He  was  the  first  to  meet  the  Peace 
Commissioners  at  Medicine  Lodge  Creek.  His 
many  services  and  virtues  plead  like  angels  trum- 
pet-tongued  against  the  deep  damnation  of  his 
taking  off." 

Well,  when  the  council  assembled,  among  them 
were  about  a  dozen  chiefs  of  Arapahoes,  Chey- 
ennes,  etc. ;  the  worst  of  whom  was  Neva, — Long- 
nose, — an  Arapahoe  with  one  eye,  and  that  a  very 
ugly  one.  He  was  an  outlaw,  commanding  twenty 
or  thirty  warriors.  All  were  seated  in  a  tent,  an,d 
this  fellow  became  boisterous,  and  wrangled, 
clamoring  for  a  general  war  against  all  whites. 
It  was  a  most  exciting  time.  The  chiefs  stripped 
almost  naked,  and  worked  themselves  up  into  a 
great  excitement.  At  last,  Black  Kettle  rose  up, 
and  pointing  his  finger  at  Neva,  thus  addressed 
him  : 

"  You,  you  call  yourself  brave  !  I  know  what 
you  mean.  You  come  here  to  kill  these  white 
friends  whom  I  have  invited  to  come  and  have  a 
talk  with  us.  They  don't  know  what  you  mean, 
but  I  do.  You  brave!  (sneeringly.)  I'll  tell  you 
what  you  are:  your  mouth  is  wide,  so  (meas 
uring  a  foot  with  his  hands), — your  tongue  so 
long  (with  his  forefinger  marking  six  inches  on 


ABOUT  INDIANS. 


65 


his  arm), — and  it  hangs  in  the  middle,  going  both  ways. 
You're  a  coward,  and  dare  not  tight  me."  Here 
all  the  Indians  gave  a  grunt  of  approbation. 
"Now,  go,"  said  he,. "and  begone!  This  coun 
cil  is  broken  up;  I  have  said  it;  you  hear  my 
words;  begone  1"  And  they  slunk  off,  completely 
cowed  down. 

Dog-soldiers  were  with  them,  well  equipped 
for  a  big  tight,  and  these  white  men  beguiled, 
would  all  have  been  slain  only  for  Mo-ke-ta-va-ta. 
A  "  dog-soldier"  is  a  youth  who  has  won,  gradu 
ally,  by  successful  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow,  a 
position  to  use  the  gun,  and  stand  to  the  warriors 
just  as  our  police  force  do  to  us,  in  guarding 
property,  etc.  These  boys  have  a  stick,  called  a 
"coo,"  on  which  they  make  a  notch  for  every 
thing  they  kill, — a  kind  of  tally, — and  when  the 
coo  is  of  a  certain  length,  they  are  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  a  "  dog-soldier." 


INDIANS    DON'T    BELIEVE    HALF    THEY   HEAR. 

When  several  chiefs  are  allowed  to  visit  "Wash 
ington  on  errands  for  their  tribes,  to  get  more 
given  them,  they  tell  their  people  how  numerous 
are  the  children  of  their  Great  Father  the}7  have 
met  on  their  way,  and  what  big  guns  they  saw, 
etc.  But  those  at  home  believe  it  is  a  lie,  gotten 
up  by  the  "white  man's  medicine,"  as  they  call 
it.  All  have  heard  of  a  young  chief  whose 


66  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

father  gave  a  stick,  on  which  he  should  cut  a 
notch  for  every  white  man  he  met.  But  it  soon 
got  full,  and  he  threw  it  away. 

The  most  amusing  experience  is  told  of  a  lot 
of  Indians  having  been  induced  to  go  into  a  pho 
tographer's  and  have  their  likenesses  taken.  The 
operator  asked  a  chief  to  look  at  his  squaw  (sit 
ting  for  her  phiz)  through  the  camera.  It  looks 
as  though  one  was  sitting,  or  rather  standing  on 
his  head, — reversing  one's  position.  The  chief 
was  very  angry  at  seeing  his  squaw  in  such  an  un 
comely  attitude,  and  he  walked  over  and  beat 
her.  She  denied  it,  but  he  saw  it.  He  looked 
again,  and  again  she  was  turned  upside  down. 
He  said  it  was  the  white  man's  medicine,  and 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it ! 

An  Indian  boy  was  asked  some  questions  by 
one  of  the  Peace  Commissioners  about  some 
trouble,  and  he  said  to  a  chief,  "  Does  the  boy 
tell  the  truth  ?" 

"Yes,"  replied  the  chief,  "you  may  believe 
what  he  says;  he  never  saw  a  white  man  before  !" 

ARMY   OFFICERS. 

The  army  officers  are  generally  friends  of  the 
Indians.  They  are  certainly,  as  a  rule,  just  to  the 
well-behaved  Indians,  and  ready  to  sacrifice  their 
lives  in  punishing  bad  ones. 

General  W.  S.  Harney,  a  retired  arm}7  officer, 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  67 

is  among  the  most  noted.  His  life  will  be  a  most 
interesting  one,  full  of  adventure  with  the  red 
men.  General  Harney  graduated  at  West  Point 
when  nineteen  years  old,  was  sent  out  to  the 
frontier,  where  he  has  lived  fifty  years.  Grown 
gray  in  their  companionship,  and  cradled  in  ex 
perience  with  the  Indian  tribes,  says  "  I  never 
knew  an  Indian  chief  to  break  his  word  !" 

Major- General  George  H.  Thomas,  who  com 
manded  at  Camp  Cooper,  Texas,  some  ten  years 
ago,  made  a  forced  march  of  a  hundred  miles, 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty  cavalry,  to  protect 
a  village  of  Comanches  from  Baylor  and  three 
thousand  rangers  that  were  marching  to  destroy 
them.  General  Thomas  was  successful.  He  then 
marched  in  rear  of  the  Indians  hundreds  of  miles 
to  shield  them  from  the  Texans.  This  gallant 
and  chivalric  officer  died  with  a  reputation  dear 
to  our  country. 

Major-General  John  Sedgwick,  who  fell  during 
the  war  of  the  rebellion,  rendered  similar  services 
on  the  plains,  in  defense  of  the  Arapahoes,  at 
about  the  same  time ;  and  Colonel  Edward  W. 
"Wynkoop,  five  years  later,  in  behalf  of  the 
Cheyennes. 

Other  officers  might  be  mentioned  for  similar 
services,  among  them  Generals  Z.  Taylor,  W.  S. 
Harney,  and  Alfred  II.  Terry.  The  last  men 
tioned,  two  years  ago,  with  a  strong  head,  heart, 
and  hand,  squelched  a  conspiracy  in  Montana  to 


68  .     THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

exterminate  the  Crow  Indians.  Again,  the  next 
summer,  flying  across  the  plains,  and  up  the  Mis 
souri  River  as  fast  as  steam  could  carry  him,  to 
rescue  a  Sioux  village  from  the  border  settlers. 
This  splendid  officer  was  removed  from  the  com 
mand  of  the  Department  of  Dakota,  to  make 
room  for  Hancock. 

Captain  Silas  S.  Soule,  in  Colorado,  a  few  years 
aojo,  and  Lieutenant  Philip  Sheridan,  in  Oregon, 
ten  years  since,  might  also  be  referred  to  in  this 
connection,  as  drawing  their  swords  in  defense 

O 

of  the  Indians  and  the  right. 

WHAT    SHALL    BE    DONE  ? 

The  question  is,  How  can  the  problem  be 
solved,  so  as  to  best  protect  and  secure  the  rights 
of  the  Indians,  and  at  the  same  time  promote  the 
welfare  of  both  races  ? 

Within  the  memory  of  the  writer,  the  toma 
hawk  once  reflected  the  light  of  burning  cabins 
along  the  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  Missouri 
Rivers,  and  the  scalping-knives  dripped  with  the 
blood  of  our  border  settlers,  as  we  have  driven 
the  Indians  back,  back,  to  the  setting  sun  ! 

But  behold  the  change  to-day,  where  the 
church  has  missions,  and  the  red  men  are  treated 
like  immortal  beings,  with  souls  to  be  saved. 

Mr.  Wm.  Welsh  says  of  what  he  saw  in  Nebras 
ka:  "  The  blanket  and  bow  discarded;  thespearis 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  69 

broken,  and  the  hatchet  and  war-club  lie  buried. 
The  skin-lodge  (tepee)  has  given  place  to  the 
cottage  and  the  mansion.  Among  the  Santee 
Sioux,  on  Is  iobrara  River,  in  Nebraska,  the  Epis 
copal  Church  has  a  mission,  where  one  can  see 
the  murderous  weapons  and  the  conjuror's  charms, 
by  aid  of  which  the  medicine-man  wrought  his 
fiendish  arts. 

"  That  is  the  pipe-stem, — never  smoked  except 
on  the  war-path, — always  blackened,  being  as 
sociated  with  deeds  of  darkness. 

"  These,"  he  says,  "  are  laid  at  the  feet  of  our 
Christfan  missionaries,  such  as  Bishops  Whipple 
and  Clarkson,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Hinmau  ;  where 
school-houses  abound,  and  the  feet  of  many  thou 
sand  little  children,  thirsting  after  knowledge, 
are  seen  entering  those  vestibules  of  science ; 
while  churches,  consecrated  to  the  Christian's 
God,  reflect  for  miles  the  sun's  rays,  tokens  of  a 
brighter  light  to  their  darkened  heathen  souls  ! 

"Dear  children,  thanks  to  our  holy  religion,  a 
few  faithful  men,  taking  their  lives  in  their  hands, 
have  gone  forth  at  the  church's  call, — bearing 
precious  seed, — struggled  and  toiled,  endured 
severe  privations,  afflictions,  and  trials,  and  saved 
in  tears  the  germs  of  light,  truth,  and  hope,  which 
to-day  have  ripened  into  a  glorious  harvest  of  in 
telligence  and  Christian  civilization  !  Christ  said, 
'It  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come,  but  woe 
unto  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh.'" 


70  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Now,  if  the  wrongs  accumulated,  done  to  the 
poor,  ignorant  pagan  Indians  for  years  and  years 
since  the  Mayflower  landed  her  pilgrims  on  these 
shores,  are  to  be  redressed  in  this  world  (for  there 
is  no  repentance  for  nations  after),  and  if  a  God 
of  justice  so  require  that  we  atone  to  them,  or 
suffer  greater  torments  from  their  children,  who 
shall  say  it  is  not  a  righteous  retribution  ? 

If  we  find  them  fierce,  hostile,  and  revengeful, 
if  they  are  cruel,  and  sometimes  perpetrate  atro 
cities  that  sicken  the  soul,  and  almost  paralyze 
us  with  horror, — burning  and  pillaging, — let  us 
remember  that  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of 
injustice,  oppression,  and  wrong,  heaped  upon 
them  by  our  race,  with  cold,  calculating,  and 
relentless  perseverance,  have  filled  them  with 
the  passion  of  revenge  and  made  them  des 
perate.  If  you  and  I,  boys,  were  Indians,  we 
would  do  just  as  Indians  do.  Their  tender 
mercies  are  cruel,  but  there  is  a  reason  ichy  it  is  so. 

The  former  Indian  agents,  on  a  salary  of 
eighteen  hundred  dollars  a  year,  got  very  rich 
in  a  short  time.  How  could  they  do  so  but  by 
swindling  the  poor  Indians,  who  have  no  idea  of 
the  relative  value  of  money,  or  the  cost  of  goods  ? 

Not  long  since  a  tribe  just  above  us  was  paid 
oft*  their  annuities  in  shoddy  blankets;  they  were 
bought  back  again  with  whisk}',  and  another  tribe 
was  paid  with  the  same  blankets;  and  one  agent 
took  out  several  thousand  "  elastics"  (girls  know 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  71 

what  I  mean)  to  pay  the  Indians  (among  other 
things),  and  yet  no  wild  Indian  ever  wore  a 
stocking  ! 

Again,  as  the  Indian  is  crowded  back  beyond 
the  tide  of  emigration,  and  hanging  like  the  froth 
of  the  billows  upon  the  very  edge  is  generally  a 
host  of  law-defying  whites,  who  introduce  among 
the  Indians  every  form  of  demoralization  and 
disease  with  which  depraved  humanity  in  its 
most  degraded  form  is  afflicted.  These  the 
Indian  see  more  of  than  anybody  else  (except 
the  military,  whom  they  look  upon  mostly  as 
protectors),  as  good  people  come  along,  the 
Indian  must  push  on,  still  farther  toward  the 
setting  sun ! 


A    GOOD   JOKE    BY   LITTLE    RAVEN. 

Little  Raven,  an  Arapahoe  chief,  laughed 
heartily  when  we  told  him  something  about 
heaven  and  hell;  remarking,  "All  good  men — 
white  and  red  men — would  go  to  heaven ;  all 
bad  men,  white  or  red,  would  go  to  hell."  In 
quiring  the  cause  of  his  merriment  when  he  had 
recovered  his  breath,  he  said,  "I  was  much 
pleased  with  what  you  say  of  those  two  places, 
and  the  kind  of  people  that  will  go  to  each  when 
they  come  to  die.  It  is  a  good  notion, — heap 
good, — for  if  all  the  whites  are  like  the  ones  I 
know,  when  Indian  gets  to  heaven  but  few  whites 


72  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

will  trouble  him  there;   pretty  much  all  go  to 
t'other  place  !" 


HOW   THE    INDIAN   IS    CHEATED. 

It  is  true,  as  General  Harney  remarked,  "  Bet 
ter  to  board  and  lodge  them  at  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Hotel  than  to  fight  them,  as  a  matter  of  econo 
my."  Besides  depleting  the  Indian  appropria 
tion  fund,  voted  annually  by  Congress,  of  mil 
lions  of  dollars,  but  which  was  used  to  carry  on 
elections,  and  the  Indian  got  what  was  left ;  which 
may  be  compared  to  cheese-parings  and  cheese, 
or  skim-milk  and  cream.  The  Indian  gets  the 
parings  and  the  skim-milk ! 

The  Quaker  agents,  as  they  are  called,  are  doing 
a  good  work,  because  they  see  that  honest  deal 
ings  are  had  with  the  annuities  paid  them.  If 
the  President  had  done  little  else,  this  feature  of 
reform  will  redound  to  his  credit  forever. 

BURIAL    OF   A    CHIEF'S    DAUGHTER. 

Spotted  Tail,  the  head  chief  of  the  Brule  Sioux, 
sent  a  request  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort 
Laramie,  saying  "his  daughter  had  died  in  Pow 
der  River  country  (fifteen  days'  journey),  and  had 
begged  her  father  to  have  her  grave  made  among 
the  whites."  Consent  was  given,  she  having  been 
known  to  the  officers  for  several  years,  and  her 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  73 

death  was  brought  on  by  exposure  to  the  hard 
ships  of  wild  Indian  life,  and  also  from  grief,  that 
her  tribe  would  go  to  war. 

He  was  met  outside  the  "  Post"  by  the  officers, 
with  the  honors  due  his  station.  The  officer  in 
command  spoke  in  words  of  comfort,  saying,  u  he 
sympathized  with  him,  and  was  pleased  at  this 
mark  of  confidence  in  committing  to  his  care  the 
remains  of  his  loved  child.  The  Great  Spirit  had 
taken  her,  and  he  never  did  anything  except  for 
some  good  purpose.  Everything  should  be  pre 
pared  for  the  funeral  at  sunset,  and  as  the  sun 
went  down,  it  might  remind  him  of  the  darkness 
left  in  his  lodge  when  his  daughter  was  taken 
away  ;  but  as  the  sun  would  surely  rise  again,  so 
she  would  rise,  and  some  day  we  would  all  meet 
in  the  land  of  the  Great  Spirit." 

The  chief  exhibited  great  emotion  at  these 
words,  and  shed  tears;  a  thing  quite  unusual  in 
an  Indian.  He  took  the  hand  of  the  officer  and 
said,  "  This  must  be  a  dream  for  me  to  be  in 
such  a  fine  room,  and  surrounded  by  such  as 
you.  Have  I  been  asleep  during  the  last  four 
years  of  hardship  and  trial,  dreaming  that  all  is 
to  be  well  again  ?  or  is  this  real  ?  Yes,  I  see 
that  it  is, — the  beautiful  day,  the  sky  blue,  with 
out  a  cloud  ;  the  wind  calm  and  still,  to  suit  the 
errand  I  came  on,  and  remind  me  that  you  offer 
me  peace !  We  think  we  have  been  much 
wronged,  and  entitled  to  compensation  for  dam- 


74  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

age  done  and  distress  caused  by  making  so  many 
roads  through  our  country,  driving  and  destroy 
ing  the  buffalo  and  game.  My  heart  is  very  sad, 
and  I  cannot  talk  on  business.  I  will  wait  and 
see  the  counselors  the  Great  Father  will  send." 

The  scene,  it  is  added,  was  the  most  impress 
ive  I  ever  saw,  and  all  the  Indians  were  awed 
into  silence.  A  scaffold  was  erected  (see  print) 
at  the  cemetery,  and  a  coffin  was  made.  Just 
before  sunset,  the  body  was  carried,  followed  by 
the  father  and  other  relatives,  with  chaplain,* 
officers,  soldiers,  and  Indians.  The  chaplain  read 
the  beautiful  burial-service,  interpreted  by  another 
to  them. 

One  said,  "  I  can  hardly  describe  my  feelings 
at  witnessing  here  this  first  Christian  burial  of  an 
Indian,  and  one  of  such  consideration  among  her 
tribe.  The  hour,  the  place,  the  solemnity,  even 
the  restrained  weeping  of  the  mother  and  other 
relatives,  all  combined  to  affect  me  deeply." 

It  is  added:  the  officers,  to  gratify  Monica's 
father,  each  placed  an  offering  in  her  coffin. 
Colonel  Maynadier,  a  pair  of  gauntlets,  to  keep 
her  hands  warm  (it  was  winter),  Mr.  Bullock  gave 
a  handsome  piece  of  red  cassimere  to  cover  the 
coffin.  To  complete  the  Indian  ceremony,  her 
two  milk-wThite  ponies  were  killed  and  their 
heads  and  tails  nailed  on  the  coffin.  These  ponies 

*  Kev.  A.  Wright,  post-chaplain,  U.  S.  A. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  75 

the  Indians  supposed  she  would  ride  again  in  the 
hunting-grounds  whither  she  had  gone. 


AN  INDIAN  RAID  ON  SIDNEY  STATION,  UNION  PACIFIC 
RAILROAD. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1868,  while  returning 
from  the  East,  we  took  dinner  at  Sidney  Station, 
on  the  railroad,  four  hundred  and  fourteen  miles 
west  of  Omaha,  at  noon.  While  we  were  there, 
two  freight  conductors  brought  in  their  trains 
and  dined  at  the  same  time  we  did,  and  when  we 
started  they  were  on  the  platform  and  said  good- 
by  to  us.  They  concluded  to  go  out  a  fishing, 
a  mile  or  two  from  the  settlement,  behind  one  of 
the  bluffs.  We  had  not  left  on  our  way  to  Chey 
enne  more  than  about  an  hour,  when  we  learned 
b}T  telegraph  at  "Antelope  Station"  (thirty-seven 
miles),  that  a  band  of  twenty  or  thirty  Sioux 
Indians  had  come  suddenly  upon  the  two  con 
ductors,  named  Cahoone  and  Kinney,  and,  after 
a  severe  conflict,  had  shot  both  through  with 
arrows,  and  scalped  one  of  them  (Cahoone),  be 
sides  killing  some  of  the  railroad  hands  at  work 
repairing  the  road  near  by  the  scene  of  conflict. 
Presently  we  met  a  special  train,  consisting  of 
engine  and  caboose-car,  coming  with  tremendous 
speed, — one  mile  a  minute, — containing  Dr.  La 
tham,  surgeon  of  the  railroad  from  Cheyenne.  It 
seems  that  the  soldiers — a  small  company — were 


76  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

completely  surprised,  and  not  being  mounted, 
could  only  protect  the  station,  but  could  not  fol 
low  up  the  Indians  to  punish  them  for  their 
audacity. 

There  were  nearly  two  hundred  and  iifty 
people,  including  one  hundred  infantry  soldiers, 
at  the  station;  and  the  alarm  of  u  Indians"  being 
given,  the  whole  population  turned  out  with  such 
arms  as  they  could  lay  hold  of.  The  sight  of  so 
many  persons  disconcerted  the  Indians,  and  they 
checked  their  horses  within  a  respectable  distance 
of  the  station.  About  two  hundred  shots  were 
fired, — many  of  them  in  the  wildest  manner,  and 
mostly  hurting  nobody. 

The  Indians  rode  round  the  upper  side  of 
Sidney — i.e.  west — after  the  affray  with  the  con 
ductors,  and  attacked  the  section-men,  circling 
round  and  round  (as  usual  in  their  mode  of  Indian 
warfare,  to  draw  out  the  fire  of  their  enemies,  till 
they  exhaust  their  ammunition),  till  they  had 
killed  several  of  the  poor  Irishmen  at  work. 
These  men. had  with  them  a  hand-car,  and  the 
boss  had  a  rifle  with  him,  and  only  one  charge 
or  cartridge  in  his  gun.  He  did  the  best  he 
could,  however,  by  jumping  on  the  car  and  taking 
aim  at  his  enemies,  and  keeping  the  gun  pointed 
towards  them,  while  the  men  worked  the  hand 
car  safe. into  Sidney  Station.  He  escaped  with 
his  life,  and  several  of  his  comrades. 

These  two  conductors  had  about  seven 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  77 

shot  into  each  of  them,  several  going  right 
through  their  bodies,  and  which  had  to  be 
broken  off  to  draw  them.  out.  One — Thomas 
Cahoone — was  scalped  twice,  on  the  top  and  back 
of  his  head.  The  other — William  Kinney — 
kept  his  captor  at  bay  by  a  pistol  he  had, 
and  thus  aiming  at  the  Indian,  saved  his  hair. 
Both  were  brought  up  carefully  in  the  caboose- 
car  to  Cheyenne,  and  next  day  I  saw  them  under 
Dr.  Latham's  treatment.  All  thought  that  both 
would  surely  die,  but  both  got  well ;  and  the  one 
who  was  scalped  is  now  living  at  a  station  on  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad.  It  is  a  terrible  opera 
tion  to  be  scalped,  and  few  survive  it.  But, 
thanks  to  the  surgeon's  skill,  these  men  are 
living,  and  feel  very  much  like  taking  vengeance 
on  their  tormentors, — if  they  ever  catch  them  ! 

WHY  DO   INDIANS   SCALP   THEIR   ENEMIES? 

I  have  been  a  good  deal  puzzled  to  know  the 
origin  of  this  custom,  of  always  scalping  a  foe  in 
battle,  both  among  themselves  and  in  fighting 
white  people.  A  negro  is  never  scalped  by  the 
Indians.  In  conversing  with  Major  A.  S.  Burt, 
of  9th  United  States  Infantry,  at  our  post,  who 
has  had  much  experience  among  the  Indians  on 
the  plains,  I  learn  some  things  which  give  a  clue 
to  the  matter,  which  agree  with  all  I  can  hear. 
He  says  that  each  Indian  wears  a  "  scalp-lock" 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  79 

in  the  streets  of  Cheyenne,  with  their  hair  reach 
ing  clown  almost  to  their  heels  ;  and  all  along  it 
you'd  see  strung  round  pieces  of  silver,  from, 
the  size  of  a  silver  dollar  to  a  tea-saucer;  each 
one  of  which  was  a  tell-tale  of  the  number  of 
the  scalps  the  young  fellow  had  taken.  It  was 
what  the  ladies  would  call  a  "  waterfall !" 

Speaking  of  this,  as  revealing  the  pride  of 
Indians  in  showing  their  prowess,  I  learned  of 
a  young  buck,  coming  into  a  post  and  walking 
round,  dressed  in  the  top  of  Indian  fashion,— i.e. 
with  paint  on  his  face,  feathers  in  his  hair,  and 
brass  ornaments  on  his  leggins.  These  young 
fellows  put  on  all  the  gewgaws  they  can  to  make 
a  show  of  importance.  Well,  he  finally  walked 
into  the  post-trader's  store,  and  asked  Mr.  Bul 
lock  if  he  didn't  think  it  made  the  officers  faint 
when  they  saw  him  ?  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  think 
you'd  better  take  off  some  of  your  things  (point 
ing  to  his  trappings),  they  will  scare  somebody." 

INDIAN   BOY'S    EDUCATION. 

When  an  Indian  gets  to  be  eighteen  years  old, 
it  is  expected  that  he  will  strike  out  for  himself, 
and  do  some  act  to  show  his  bravery ;  and  that 
begins  in  striking  somebody  to  kill  them  (a  white 
or  Indian  of  a  hostile  tribe),  and  to  steal  stock,  a 
horse,  or  mule,  or  cattle. 

No  young  warrior  can  get  a  wife  till  he  has 


80  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

taken  the  scalp  of  a  white  man  or  Indian,  and 
have  stolen  a  horse  or  pony.  This  being  a  law 
of  the  Sioux,  so  in  proportion  as  he  scalps  and 
steals  horses  so  does  his  number  of  wives  in 
crease,  and  the  greater  a  warrior  does  he  become. 
In  short,  he  becomes  "  a  big  heap  chief."  What 
to  us  becomes  a  murder  or  a  theft, — the  very  first 
act  of  a  young  Indian, — in  his  own  tribe  is  a  great 
and  praiseworthy  deed.  So  you  see  what  blood 
has  been  shed,  and  other  acts  of  cruelty  caused 
by  Spotted  Tail,  lied  Cloud,  and  others,  who 
have  imbrued  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  inno 
cent  victims  with  a  fiendish  delight  that  savages 
only  know  and  take  pleasure  in. 

As  the  arrows  tell  of  the  tribe  to  which  they 
belong, — colored  near  the  end, — green  for  the 
Sioux,  blue,  Cheyenne,  red  or  brown,  Arrapahoes, 
black  feathers,  Crow, — so  the  tribe  to  which  an 
Indian  murderer  belongs  is  known  by  the  method 
(usually)  by  which  the  victim  is  scalped.  The 
Cheyennes  remove  a  piece  not  larger  than  a  silver 
dollar  from  immediately  over  the  left  ear ;  the 
Arrapahoes  take  the  same  from  over  the  right 
ear.  Others  take  from  the  crown,  forehead,  or 
nape  of  the  neck.  The  Utes  take  the  entire  scalp 
from  ear  to  ear,  and  from  forehead  to  nape  of 
neck. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  81 


MAKING    PRESENTS. 

A  grocer  in  Julesburg  had  married  a  squaw; 
after  awhile  she  left  him  and  joined  her  tribe. 
Coming  that  way  again,  she  came  and  looked  in 
upon  her  former  husband  at  the  back-door,  while 
all  her  relations  stood  staring  around  to  see  if  she 
would  be  welcomed  back  again.  But  he  took  no 
notice  of  her.  One  of  his  friends  said  to  him, 
"  Joe,  why  don't  you  go  and  call  her  in,  you 
know  you  are  glad  to  see  her  back  again ;  you 
certainly  want  her?" 

"No,  no,"  said  he,  "I  ain't  going  to  make  any 
fuss  over  her  at  all.  If  I  do,  the  whole  crowd  of 
her  relations,  uncles,  aunts,  and  cousins,  will 
come  in  to  shake  hands,  and  congratulate  me 
with  4  How,  how,'  expecting  each  one  to  have  a 
pound  of  sugar.  No,  no,  you  don't  catch  me." 

INDIANS    MAKING    SIGNALS. 

The  Indians  can  make  signals  to  the  distance 
of  eight  or  ten  miles  to  their  confederates.  This 
is  done  in  two  ways :  first,  by  lighting  one  or 
more  fires;  secondly,  by  flashing  the  sunlight  by 
small  mirrors  from  one  bluff  to  another.  Thus, 
by  day  or  by  night,  they  can  communicate  at 
great  distances.  They  have  "  field-glasses"  also. 

If  an  Indian  is  benighted  on  the  plains,  he  can 


82  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

make  himself  quite  comfortable,  where  a  white 
man  would  perish  in  the  winter  with  cold.  He 
will  gather  some  buffalo-chips,  and  strike  a  fire 
with  a  flint,  sitting  close  ta  it,  and  throwing  his 
blanket  around  him  in  shape  of  a  tent,  and  let 
the  smoke  go  out  of  a  hole  at  the  top.  He  thus 
looks  at  night  like  a  stump  on  fire. 

MERCIFUL   INDIANS. 

A  poor  old  German  was  traveling  in  Colorado 
with  his  wagon,  when  he  was  set  upon  by  a  lot 
of  Indians.  They  drew  their  bows  to  shoot  him, 
when  he  dropped  upon  his  knees  and  began  to 
pray  vehemently.  "  Oh,"  said  he,  "  mine  goot 
friends,  please  don't  shoot  me !  I'm  joost  the 
best  friends  what  you  have  got.  I  never  killed 
not  nobody,  and  please  don't  shoot  a  poor  fellow 
like  me."  The  Indians  did  not  understand  a  word 
he  said,  but  he  acted  in  such  a  ludicrous  manner, 
they  thought  he  was  crazy,  and  so  they  let  him 
pass  unharmed.  They  seemed  to  have  a  sense 
of  the  ludicrous,  as  they  went  off'  laughing  at  the 
poor  Dutchman  quite  heartily. 

A   SCENE   AT   NORTH   PLATTE. 

After  the  treaty  with  the  Indians,  at  Fort 
Laramie,  in  1868,  the  Peace  Commission  ad 
journed,  part  to  go  with  General  Sherman  tc 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  83 

,  • 

!N"ew  Mexico,  a  part  to  meet  at  Fort  Rice,  Da 
kota,  with  General  Terry,  part  to  go  up  to  Fort 
Bridger,  in  Wyoming,  with  General  Augur,  and 
another  with  Commissioner  Taylor  at  North 
Platte,  Nebraska,  to  meet  different  tribes  not 
present  at  Laramie.  There  I  went  to  see  Spotted 
Tail's  band,  and  learn  all  I  could  of  Indian 
life.  Spotted  Tail  was  off  on  the  Eepublican 
River,  in  Kansas,  hunting  buffalo  with  White 
Bear  and  Man-who-owns-his-Horses,  nephew 
of  Spotted  Tail.  Mr.  Goodell,  of  Chicago,  was 
there,  to  see  if  he  could  not  induce  the  Indians 
to  undertake  the  weaving  of  blankets  and  shawls, 
etc.  by  hand-looms,  such  as  are  in  use  in  the  Ohio 
Penitentiary.  I  went  with  him  to  hear  what  they 
would  say.  Rolled  up  in  a  blanket  were  speci 
mens  of  woolen  yarn  of  bright  colors,  and  a  piece 
of  cloth  partly  woven,  and  he  had  a  picture  of  a 
girl  sitting  at  the  loom  in  the  act  of  weaving. 
Around  us  gathered  all  the  young  squaws,  who 
expressed  great  delight  at  the  whole  thing  and 
seemed  to  comprehend  it ;  while  young  Indian 
lads  stood  at  a  distance  and  only  gave  a  grant  of 
qualified  satisfaction,  or  reservation.  I  should 
think  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  introducing 
such  work,  as  the  squaws  will  readily  labor  on 
anything  that  promises  to  add  to  their  comfort 
or  adornment  of  their  persons. 

Then   quite   an    amusing    incident   occurred, 
which  I  must  relate,  though  the  joke  was  upon 


84  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

myself,  or  my  friend,  Mr.  G .  Seeing  a  tall 

young  squaw  standing  in  front  of  her  tent,  I  said, 
"  Let  us  go  and  see  what  she  is  doing."  She  had 
made  her  morning  toilet,  and  was  very  prettily 
dressed  in  gay  colors,  with  a  long  red  shawl  on, 
coming  down  to  her  feet.  I  should  say  the  en 
trance  to  the  tepees  or  tents  is  through  a  hole 
hidden  by  a  round  hoop,  covered  with  deer-skin, 
hanging  by  a  string  only,  so  as  to  be  thrust  aside 
easily  when  one  wants  to  enter. 

I  said  to  her,  "  Me  wa-se-na-cha-wa-kon !"  That 
is  to  say,  I  am  a  medicine-man,  or  minister  of  the 
Great  Spirit.  "  Wa-kon"  means  Great  Spirit. 

Looking  first  at  me,  then  at  Mr.  G ,  she  raised 

her  finger  and  said,  "  Me  no  want."  Then  she 
turned  and  rushed  into  her  tent, — shot  in  like  a 
prairie-dog  into  his  hole, — leaving  us  to  feel 
rather  silly  by  being  so  suddenly  "cut"  by  a 

young  beauty  on  the  plains.  I  said,  "  Mr.  G , 

she  evidently  don't  like  your  good  looks  or 
mine,"  and  we  walked  oft'  quite  mortified.  The 
interpreter  explained  her  conduct,  saying  she 
was  not  "sick,"  and  therefore  did  not  want  any 
"  charm"  to  make  her  well. 

Here  I  saw  an  Indian  child,  five  years  old, 
dressed  in  a  most  elegant  suit  of  buckskin,  em 
broidered  with  beads  and  horse-hair  of  various 
colors.  The  frock  came  below  the  knees,  with  a 
handsome  fringe  at  the  bottom,  and  underneath 
the  little  fellow  wore  leggius  and  moccasins.  I 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  85 

never  saw  any  child  dressed  so  beautiful  or  look 
ing  like  a  little  prince,  as  he  was,  of  the  tribe.  I 
would  have  given  fifty  dollars  for  the  "  outfit,"  if 
I  had  a  child  to  wear  it.  How  is  it  that  these  rude 
children  of  nature  can  do  such  beautiful  bead- 
work, — all  of  the  figures  as  regular  as  if  laid  out 
by  geometrical  rule, — or  as  perfect  as  any  lady 
could  make  the  figures  of  an  afghan  ? 

This  station  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  is 
just  beyond  the  crossing  of  the  Platte  River,  of 
half  a  mile  in  width. 

It  is  an  important  little  place  of  a  few  hundred 
people,  on  account  of  the  machine-shops  and 
round-house  for  locomotives,  and  as  one  of  the 
main  points  where  Indians  cross  from  Dakota  to 
the  Republican  River  when  on  hunting  expedi 
tions.  Hence  a  company  of  soldiers  are  stationed 
here  to  protect  the  railroad  and  the  long  bridge 
just  east  of  the  town.  All  along  the  road,  at 
each  station,  are  troops  also  for  protection,  who 
usually  "  turn  out,"  range  in  file,  and  "  present 
arms"  as  the  train  approaches. 

Here  we  met  a  white  man  named  Pratt, — that 
is  to  say,  if  he  were  washed  in  the  river  he  would 
look  white, — who  said  that  he  had  lived  with  the 
tribe  for  sixteen  years,  and  had  nine  (half-breed) 
children,  and  they  were  more  filthy  and  squalid 
than  those  of  any  other  lodge. 

A  squaw  had  died  here,  and  was  buried  as 
usual,  by  elevating  the  body  upon  upright  poles. 


86  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

A  stock  of  food  was  left  with  her  at  night,  to  eat 
on  the  way  to  the  other  country.  But  lo  !  in  the 
morning  she  came  down  and  ate  it  all  up,  saying 
to  her  friends,  "  She  wanted  to  see  her  aunt  be 
fore  departing."  She  lived  a  week  longer,  and 
died,  as  it  was  supposed,  again.  It  is  said  that 
her  friends  got  tired  of  such  fooling,  and  being 
determined  to  end  the  matter,  adopted  the  white 
man's  mode  of  covering  her  up  in  the  ground ! 
Again  she  rose  up  and  preferred  some  new  re 
quest  ;  but  thinking  the  old  enchantress  had 
stayed  long  enough  this  side  the  hunting  grounds, 
they  forced  her  down  and  laid  sufficient  turf  upon 
her  to  keep  her  quiet  for  a  long  last  sleep. 

Among  the  Pawnees  at  Columbus,  on  the 
reservation  near  the  railroad,  an  Indiair  trader 
makes  a  good  thing  out  of  the  poor  fellows  in 
this  way : 

For  instance,  the  Indian  Bureau  pays  off  the 
tribe  twice  a  year.  In  the  spring,  blankets,  etc.; 
these  are  worth  at  least  three  dollars  each.  The 
Indians  sell  these  blankets  for  a  double  handful 
of  coffee  and  sugar.  Then  they  buy  them  back 
in  the  fall  with  money  and  buffalo  meat,  which 
they  sell  to  the  trader  at  six  cents  the  pound.  He 
then  cures  the  meat  and  sells  it  back  to  them  for 
twenty-five  cents  the  pound;  thus  making  nine 
per  cent,  on  it.  Some  one,  it  is  said,  complained 
to  the  government  about  it,  and  they  sent  a 
new  agent  to  them ;  but  the  Pawnees  had  conn'- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  87 

dence  in  tne  old  agent  or  trader  named  Platt,  and 
they  stoutly  refused  to  trade  with  the  new  man ! 


ACROSS   THE   PLAINS. 

When  Vice-President  Colfax  and  Horace 
Greeley,  and  Governor  Bross  of  Illinois,  made 
the  journey  overiand  to  California,  about  twelve 
years  since,  they  went  all  the  way  by  stage  from 
the  Missouri  River  to  Denver,  Colorado,  to  Salt 
Lake,  etc.,  through  the  mountains  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada.  It  took  them  about  thirty  days  to  go. 
Mr.  Greeley  said  he  "  could  think  of  these 
plains  (called  in  your  maps  the  <  Great  American 
Desert')  as  tit  for  nothing  but  to  till  up  between 
commeft-cial  cities  !"  But  he  was  partly  mistaken, 
as  his  friends  are  now  planting  4. colony  (named 
Greeley)  of  intelligent  settlers  on  the  Cach-le- 
pow-dre  Creek,  south  of  Cheyenne,  fifty-five  miles 
toward  Denver,  whece  ninety,  thousand  acres  of 
laud  have  been  secured  for  tillage,  and  where 
saw-mills  and  stores  and  dwellings  are  to  be 
erected.  The  success  of  this  enterprise  has  led 
to  another  one.  The  railroad  has  projected  civili 
zation  one  hundred  years  ahead,  opening  up  a 
highway  for  commerce  from  New  York  to  the 
"  Golden  Gate,"  to  Asia,  Africa,  arid  China, 
which  will  astonish  the  world  and  divert  the 
course  of  trade  to  the  Pacific  coast. 

But  you  are  interested  mainly,  I  see,  in  reading 


88  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

about  the  incidents  which  attended  the  opening 
up  of  this  great  national  highway. 

The  dangers  attending  the  building  of  the 
road  were  sometimes  very  great,  as  the  Indians 
saw  very  plainly  that  it  was  the  white  man's  en 
croachment  on  his  hunting-grounds.  And  when 
even  the  telegraph-poles  were  being  put  up,  long 
before,  the  Indians  imagined  that  the  government 
was  thus  putting  them  up  to  fence  off'  their  hunt 
ing-grounds,  so  they  could  not  get  any  more 
buffalo  !  And  once,  after  I  came  to  Fort  Sedg- 
wick,  the  wires  were  said  to  be  "  down,"  and  no 
communication  could  be  had  with  other  posts  in 
the  upper  country.  It  was  feared  that  the  Indians 
had  been  tampering  with  the  wires,  and  torn  them 
down.  But  the  operators  went  out  under  an  escort 
of  soldiers  to  see  what  the  difficulty  was.  They 
came  back  again  in  a  couple  of  days,  and  reported 
that  the  Indians  had  not  meddled  with  the  wires 
at  all.  But  it  seemed  that  some  buffaloes  in  a 
large  drove  had  taken  the  privilege  of  scratch 
ing  their  rumps  against  the  poles,  and  thus  tore 
them  down  ;  and  getting  their  horns  entangled 
in  the  wires,  the  wild  creatures  had  carried  off 
about  four  miles  of  telegraph-wire ! 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  89 


WHY    DOES    NOT    THE    INDIAN    MEDDLE    WITH    THE 
TELEGRAPH? 

It  is  said  that  the  pioneer  company  over  the 
plains  got  together  several  chiefs  and  explained 
as  well  as  they  could  the  modus  operandi  of  ob 
taining  electricity  from  the  clouds,  and  making 
it  useful  in  conveying  intelligence  to  great  dis 
tances.  This  was  hard  for  them  to  believe,  be 
cause  they  are  superstitious,  and  attribute  all 
phenomena  they  do  not  fully  understand  to  con 
juration  or  charms,  such  as  their  medicine-man 
practices.  However,  they  concluded  to  put  the 
matter  to  a  test. 

So  it  was  that  two  principal  Indians,  about 
one  hundred  miles  apart,  agreed  to  send  a  mes 
sage  over  the  lines  on  a  given  day,  and  then  they 
would  travel  toward  each  other  as  fast  as  they 
could  to  see  if  the  message  (known  only  to  them 
selves  and  the  operator)  should  be  correct.  Of 
course  it  proved  as  we  would  expect,  and  they 
were  satisfied.  This  intelligence  has  spread  from 
one  tribe  to  another,  and  they,  believing  that  it  is 
somehow  (as  it  is  in  truth)  connected  with  the 
Great  Spirit  who  controls  the  winds  and  the 
storms ;  hence  they  do  not  meddle  with  it. 


90  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

PLUM    CREEK   MASSACEE. 

But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Indians 
quietly  submitted  to  the  building  of  the  railroad 
through  their  country. 

The  most  formidable  obstacle  which  was  met 
with  in  building  the  road  occurred  in  1866,  by  the 
throwing  off  the  track  a  train  of  cars  at  Plum 
Creek,  near  the  Platte  River,  two  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  west  of  Omaha. 

The  Indians  were  led  on  by  a  half-breed,  and 
probably  one  or  more  scalawag  whites  were  en 
gaged  in  this  diabolical  act,  as  one  was  found 
among  the  killed  with  his  face  painted  black  and 
wearing  Indian  clothing.  Some  one  having  a 
fertile  imagination  made  a  picture  of  this  scene, 
and  I  saw  it  copied  in  Philadelphia  for  some  wall 
paper  to  ornament  hotel  dining-rooms.  Speak 
ing  to  some  ladies  there  about  the  delightful  trip 
to  California  over  the  Pacific  Railroad,  one  ex 
claimed,  "  I  would  like  to  visit  California,  but 
oh,  my !  I  never  could  venture  on  the  danger. 
Just  look  at  the  picture  in  the  window,  corner 
Chestnut  Street  and  Broad.  The  horrid  Indians 
have  thrown  the  cars  off  the  track,  and  killing 
all  the  passengers  !"  I  explained  to  her  that  it 
was  a  fancy  sketch  entirely,  gotten  up  for  a  bar 
room  wall-paper,  and  that  it  was  ridiculous  and 
false  ;  for  the  picture  was  made  to  show  the  loco 
motive  off  the  rail,  and  the  Indians  riding  round 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  91 

the  cars  in  white  shirt  sleeves  and  bright-red, 
flaring  neckties,  like  gay  cavaliers  or  brigands  ! 


PAWNEE    INDIANS — YELLOW  SUN   AND    BLUE    HAWK. 

Both  these  Indians  declare  themselves  inno 
cent  of  the  crime  of  murder.  I  visited  Omaha  in 
the  fall  of  1869,  where  they  were  lodged  in  jail 
awaiting  their  trial.  Just  before  I  came  one  of 
them  had  escaped,  and  gone  back  to  the  Pawnee 
reservation,  near  Columbus.  Here  the  sheriff 
and  soldiers  found  him  with  his  squaw,  decked 
out  in  all  their  style  of  paint  and  ornament,  ready 
for  the  sacrifice.  He  was  ready  and  willing  to 
be  slain  among  his  own  people,  but  to  go  back 
and  suffer  the  ignominy  of  being  hung  up  by  the 
neck  till  dead  was  more  than  he  could  bear.  If 
the  Indian  dies  in  this  way,  all  believe  they 
cannot  enter  into  the  happy  hunting-grounds. 

They  were  supposed  to  have  murdered  Edward 
McMurty,  near  Grand  Island,  Nebraska,  in  June, 
1868. 

After  being  shut  up  in  a  filthy  jail  about  two 
years,  they  were  acquitted.  This  was  a  sample 
of  the  way  we  dispense  justice  in  our  courts  of 
law. 


J» 

92  mE  BOY'S  BOOK 


A   TRIP   TO   FORT   LARAMIE. 

This  post  was  established  a  great  many  years 
since  by  the  American  Fur  Company,  to  trade 
with  the  Indians,  buying  furs  and  peltries  of  them 
in  return  for  various  articles  of  merchandise,  such 
as  tobacco,  sugar,  coffee,  blankets,  calico,  beads, 
etc.  Mr.  John  Jacob  Astor,  the  millionaire  of 
New  York,  made  his  great  wealth  by  dealing  in 
furs  with  the  Indians. 

It  is  related  of  an  agent  of  the  company  that 
while  weighing  the  furs,  he  would  place  his  foot 
on  the  scales  and  call  it  a  pound  !  Of  course  he 
could  keep  it  on  as  long  as  he  chose,  and  the 
Indians  would  be  none  the  wiser.  It  is  a  good 
story,  but  in  nowise  related  to  Mr.  Astor,  who  was 
reputed  to  be  honest,  and  at  one  time  very  poor. 

It  was  full  of  curiosity  that  I  started  from  Fort 
Russell  with  the  paymaster,  Major  Burbank,  In 
spector-General  Sweitzer,  Medical  Director  J. 
B.  Brown,  and  others,  on  the  last  of  May,  1870, 
with  an  escort  of  a  dozen  cavalry,  to  pay  a  few 
days'  visit  to  Laramie,  ninety-five  miles  north 
east  of  our  post.  Leaving  at  noon  in  procession, 
with  three  ambulances  and  as  many  army  wagons, 
scaling  the  bluffs,  bare  of  everything  like  trees 
or  shrubs,  and  only  covered  with  grass  and  wild 
flowers,  and  now  and  then  sage-bush  and  prickly- 
pear  cactus,  which  are  very  troublesome  to  the 
horses'  feet.  The  roads  were,  as  usual,  very  hard 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  93 

and  fine,  so  that  up  hill  arid  down  dale  we  made 
six  miles  to  the  hour  all  the  way.  Our  first 
station  was  Horse  Creek,  twenty-five  miles, 
where  we  camped  on  a  fine  stream  of  water  for 
the  night.  When  a  party  thus  camps  out,  the 
wagons  are  eorraled,  as  it  is  called, — i.e.  a  circle 
is  made  of  them  and  the  horses  are  tethered  inside 
or  lariated  with  a  rope  long  enough  to  let  them 
feed,  arid  this  is  held  by  an  iron  stake  or  pin 
driven  into  the  ground.  Then  the  tents  are  put 
up  in  a  line,  and  at  once  begins  the  work  of 
gathering  brush  and  sticks  (or  buffalo-chips), 
with  which  to  cook  a  savory  supper  of  bacon, 
potatoes,  and  hot  coffee.  This  is  the  time  for 
cracking  jokes,  telling  stories  of  pioneer  life. — 
and  the  colored  boys  are  full  of  fun.  We  had 
one  from  the  South  named  Tom  Williams,  be 
longing  to- Colonel  Mason,  of  the  5th  Cavalry. 
After  enjoying  our  evening  meal  and  getting 
ready  to  lie  down  in  our  tents,  spread  on  the 
grass,  as  the  evening  approached,  the  sun  was 
sinking  behind  Laramie  Peak, — a  mountain  far 
away  in  the  Black  Hills,  towering  up  eight  thou 
sand  feet, — and  all  nature  was  hushed  into  repose, 
and  each  one  with  his  lunge-  full  of  the  light  air, 
and  his  body  weary  with  a  long  ride,  just  drop 
ping  off  to  sleep, — all  at  once  there  was  a  yell 
and  halloo  outside,  which  caused  me  to  jump  up 
and  look  out  to  see  if  any  red-skins  had  broke 
through  the  guard  and  invaded  our  peaceful 


94  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

circle.  Instead  of  scalping  Sioux,  there  was 
nothing  the  matter  but  the  return  of  a  drove  of 
large  beef-cattle  we  had  passed  grazing  on  the 
Ohugwater,  and  which  sought  our  camping- 
ground  on  account  of  a  bare  place  where  they 
could  lie  down  and  be  warm  for  the  night.  Our 
Tom  was  racing  up  and  down  among  them,  yell 
ing  "Hi,  hi!"  and  shaking  his  blanket  in  all 
directions  to  stampede  the  poor  cattle,  who  had 
as  good  a  right  as  we  to  the  soil. 

Pickets  were  stationed  all  around  us,  and,  save 
the  snoring  of  some  tired  sleeper  and  the  occa 
sional  braying  of  a  mule  or  two,  we  slept  soundly, 
with  no  fear  of  Indians.  Here  we  met  a  white 
man  and  his  wife,  a  squaw,  and  several  others, 
who  were  waiting  for  Eed  Cloud  and  his  chiefs, 
who  were  on  their  way  to  Washington  from  Fort 
Fetterman.  They  were  related  to  John-Reichaud, 
a  half-breed  belonging  to  Red  Cloud's  party. 
This  Reichaud  had  lived  about  Laramie  and  Fet 
terman  for  many  years,  and,  by  raising  stock  and 
trading,  had  accumulated,  it  is  said,  about  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  During  last  winter, 
while  drunk,  he  quarreled  with  a  soldier,  and  a 
little  while  after,  in  passing  some  barracks  at 
Fetterman,  he  aimed  his  revolver  at  a  soldier,  who 
was  sitting  in  front  of  his  quarters,  named  Kernan, 
and  killed  him,  supposing  it  was  the  same  soldier 
he  had  just  before  been  quarreling  with.  Find 
ing  out  his  mistake,  he  fled  away  up  to  Red 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  95 

Cloud's  camp,  and  while  there  incited  the  Indiana 
to  make  war  upon  the  whites.  At  the  time  we 
were  going  up,  General  John  E.  Smith  was 
journeying  towards  us  with  lied  Cloud  and  his 
band  of  warriors,  and  having  Reichaud  as  the 
chiefs  prisoner.  It  was  said  he  expected  to  get 
the  President  to  pardon  him  and  allow  him  to 
establish  a  trading-post  for  the  Ogallallas.  The 
feeling  against  this  outlaw  was  such  as  to  make 
General  Smith  fear  that  some  one  at  Cheyenne 
would  shoot  him,  and  so  the  party  turned  off*  to 
Pine  Bluff'  Station,  about  forty-three  miles  east 
of  that  town.  We  thus  missed  seeing  them.  But 
there  were  other  objects  of  interest  in  our  jour 
ney,  and  we  went  on  to  the  mail  station,  called 
the  Chug,  a  place  not  of  much  note, — for  beside 
a  company  of  cavalry,  there  were  not  a  dozen 
ranches  there  on  the  beautiful  stream,  along 
whose  banks  were  growing  \yillow-trees,  and  the 
cottonwood  also.  Besides,  there  were  half  ti 
dozen  tepees  tilled  with  half-breeds,  who  are 
herders  and  wood-choppers  in  the  mountains. 

While  the  paymaster  was  dispensing  the  green 
backs  to  Uucle  Sam's  boys,  the  doctor  and  I  sal 
lied  out  with  a  guide  in  search  of  those  much 
admired 

MOSS   AGATES, 

which  are  here  found  in  great  abundance,  even 
quarried  out  of  a  bluff  and  carried  off  by  the 
wagon-load.  The  guide  had  been  there  but  once, 


96  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

and  somehow  or  other  he  could  not  locate  it  ex 
actly,  and  we  had  a  ride  out  of  six  miles  and 
back  without  finding  the  spot.  Still,  we  picked 
up  a  few  on  the  way.  As  these  are  now  so  much 
the  fashion  for  jewelry,  I  will  describe  them. 
First,  I  should  say  that  most  suppose  they  con 
tain  real  moss,  or  fern-leaves,  so  distinct  are  they 
seen  in  a  clear  agate  to  resemble  them.  Thus 
you  see  imitations  of  pine-trees,  vines,  a  deer's 
head,  and  sprigs  of  various  kinds;  but  it  is 
through  iron  solutions  penetrating  them  when  in 
a  soluble  state.  If  you  take  a  pen  and  drop  some 
ink  into  a  tumbler  of  water,  it  will  scatter  and 
form  for  the  moment  an  appearance  like  a  moss 
agate.  These  agates,  when  found  on  bluffs  or 
dry  places,  are  coated  over  with  a  white  cover 
ing  of  lime  or  alkali.  Those  in  the  beds  of 
rivers  found  along  the  line  of  the  Pacific  Rail 
road,  are  smooth  and  transparent.  They  are 
Called  the  "  Cheyenne  brown  agate,"  "  Granger 
water  agate,"  "  Church  Buttes  light-blue  agate," 
and  .the  "  Sweet-water  agate." 

There  are  great  quantities  of  them  near  Church 
Butte  and  Granger  stations,  nearly  nine  hundred 
miles  west  of  Missouri  River.  You  have  to  poke 
among  cobble-stones,  etc.  to  find  them,  and  when 
a  person  comes  upon  a  handsome  specimen,  he 
will  shout,  aa  did  a  minister  from  Chicago,  one 
day,  with  me,  when  he  picked  up  a  nice  one  as 
large  as  an  egg, — "  Glory  hallelujah  !" 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  97 

It  is  like  searching  for  gold  and  silver, — very 
exciting,  and  far  more  pleasurable  than  fishing  or 
hunting.  A  friend  here  has  about  sixty  pounds 
of  agates,  for  which  he  was  offered  by  a  lapidary 
in  New  York  five  dollars  a  pound.  A  handsome 
stone  for  a  ring  or  pin  is  worth,  when  cut  into 
shape,  from  three  to  five  dollars.  The  lapidary 
cuts  them  with  a  steel  wheel,  about  eight  inches 
in  diameter,  using  oil  and  diamond-dust  in  cut 
ting  and  polishing. 

A   YOUNG    BRAVE. 

At  Chng  Station  I  met  a  frontiersman  named 
Phillips,  of  long  experience,  who  told  me  in  his 
new  adobe  house  of  an  old  chief  who  had  lost 
five  sons,  and  when  the  first  was  slain  he  cut  off 
a  piece  of  his  thumb,  next  of  his  forefinger,  and 
so  on,  till  five  told  of  his  boys  killed.  The  last 
was  a  brave,  and  supposed  no  ball  could  hit  him, 
wearing,  he  supposed,  "  a  charmed  life."  He 
came  to  the  "  Chug"  and  dared  them  to  shoot. 
As  he  and  three  or  four  more  had  killed  a  white 
man  and  wounded  others,  the  people  all  turned 
out,  and  Phillips  shot  the  bold  young  fellow,  and 
wounded  the  rest  of  the  party  so  that  they  died. 
The  body  of  the  young  Indian- lay  by  the  road 
side  for  several  weeks,  till  the  wolves  and  ravens 
had  picked  his  bones,  and  I  picked  up  his  skull, 
pierced  through  with  several  balls,  to  bring  back 
and  present  to  the  post-surgeon, 
i  7 


98  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

This  grinning  skull  was  lying  on  the  grass 
which  covered  the  roadside,  and  almost  beneath 
towering  monuments  or  bluffs  of  sandstone, 
which  jut  out  at  several  points  on  the  road,  run 
ning  along  for  great  distances,  and  towering  up 
several  hundred  feet  high.  We  passed  soon  after 
several  of  these  projections,  which  look  like  for 
tifications  and  baronial  castles  of  some  knights 
of  the  olden  time.  "Chimney  Rock"  is  well 
known  to  travelers  as  a  series  of  fluted  columns, 
and  standing  solitary,  as  sentinels  in  the  desert, 
they  look  solemn,  lonely,  and  sublime.  Old 
George,  the  stage-driver,  has  passed  them  twice 
a  week  for  many  years,  and  the  wonder  is  he  has 
not  lost  his  scalp. 

Sometimes  the  chiefs  and  old  Indians  will  cut 
slits  in  their  cheeks  and  rub  ashes  in  them,  sit 
ting  over  the  fire  and  bemoaning  the  loss  of  their 
dead  children.  -They  present  a  horrid  appearance 
to  one  who  looks  at  their  pagan  mode  of  bewail 
ing  the  departed. 

Arrived  at  Fort  Laramie  on  the  third  day,  we 
were  courteously  welcomed  by  Colonel  F.  F. 
Flint,  of  the  4th  Infantry,  commandant  of  the 
post.  Delicacy  dictates  that  we  forbear  to  speak 
of  the  charming  family  which  surrounds  him ; 
but  the  rarity  of  Christian  households  in  the 
army  made  our  visit  there  like  to  an  oasis  in  the 
de.-^rt. 

To  visit  the  Indian  graves  surrounding  the 


INDIAN  BURIAL. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  99 

post  was  a  prominent  object  before  us  in  going. 
Lieutenant  Theodore  F.  True,  with  an  orderly, 
two  mules,  and  a  horse  saddled,  found  us  fording 
the  Laramie  River  to  inspect  the  grave, — if  such 
it  can  be  called,  as  shown  in  the  picture  on  this 
page, — where  the  body  was  dried  up  like  a 
mummy,  and  nothing  else  but  fragments  of  a 
buffalo-robe  dangling  in  the  wind  was  to  be  seen. 
Relic  hunters  had  carried  away  everything  in  the 
shape  of  bow  and  arrow,  wampum,  etc. 

We  moralized  over  this  beautiful  feature  of 
Indian  superstition,  wherein  they  are  certainly 
free  from  the  horrid  thought  that  any  one  is  ever 
buried  alive ! 

Next  we  sought  the  place  where  the  remains 
of  Mon-i-ca,  daughter  of  Zin-ta-gah-lat-skah,  was 
placed,  by  her  request,  in  the  white  man's  ceme 
tery,  and  alongside  of  the  body  of  her  uncle 
Sho-ta, — "  Old  Smoke," — an  old  warrior.  The 
coffin  was  made  at  the  post,  and  elevated  on  posts 
about  ten  feet  high.  They  cover  these  coffins 
with  handsome  red  broadcloth,  and  deposit  in 
each  all  the  trinkets  and  valuables  belonging  to 
the  departed.  One  other  grave  there  the  Indians 
visit  annually,  and  mourn  over  with  their  lamen 
tations, — that  of  a  Frenchman  named  Sublette, 
who  brought  them  down  and  directed  them  how 
to  vanquish  their  enemies,  the  Pawnees,  in  a 
great  battle. 


100  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 


THE    HEAD    CHIEF — RED    CLOUD. 

Red  Cloud  is  regarded  as  the  head  chief  of  the 
Sioux  nation,  and  for  over  twenty  years  has  heen 
thus  venerated.  He  is  fifty-three  years  old,  and 
claims  to  have  fought  in  eighty-seven  battles, 
often  wounded,  but  never  badly  hurt.  lied 
Cloud  is  about  six  feet  six  inches  in  his  stock 
ings  (I  mean  moccasins),  large  features,  high 
cheek  bones,  and  a  big  mouth,  and  walks  knock- 
kneed,  as  others  do.  His  face  is  painted,  and  his 
ears  pierced  for  gaudy  rings,  which  men  and 
women  have  an  equal  pride  for.  [lis  and  other 
chiefs'  robes  were  beautifully  worked  with  hair, 
beads,  and  jewels.  His  leggins  were  red,  hand 
somely  worked  with  beads  and  horse-hair  and 
ribbons,  and  his  moccasins  were  fit  for  a  prince 
to  wear. 

He  has  encountered  the  Utes, Pawnees,  Snakes, 
Blackfeet,  Crows,  .and  Omahas.  Thirty-three 
years  ago,  while  he  was  the  youngest  of  the 
braves,  he  engaged  with  a  party  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  warriors  of  his  tribe,  and  only 
twenty-five  escaped  alive.  Twice  was  he  wounded, 
and  so  distinguished  by  his  daring  that  he  was 
made  a  chief  for  his  skill  in  fighting.  Then  he 
rose  in  rank  to  the  highest  station,  and  he  holds 
it  to-day.  His  people  regard  him  as  one  of  the 
greatest  warriors  on  the  plains,  being  skilled  with 
the  tomahawk,  rifle,  and  bow  and  arrow,  and  in 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  101 

councils  of  chiefs,  his  wonderful  sagacity  and 
eloquence  have  stamped  him,  in  the  eyes  of  all 
Indians,  as  worthy  of  veneration  and  implicit 
obedience.  As  I  had  missed  the  party  on  their 
way  to  Washington  by  a  few  hours'  tarrying  on 
the  "  Chug,"  and  General  Smith  had  taken  a 
short  cut  across  to  Pine  Bluff  Station,  seventy- 
three  miles  below  Cheyenne,  to  avoid  a  conflict 
anticipated  about  Blchaud,  I  will  give  an  account 
gleaned  from  others,  of  this  expedition,  which  it 
is  hoped  may  result  in  lasting  peace. 

The  "  outfit"  assembled  in  front  of  General 
Flint's  house,  on  their  arrival  at  Fort  Laramie, 
and  got  up  a  regular  war-dance  to  amuse  the 
general's  family  and  others  there.  This  chief, 
Red  Cloud,  whose  fame  had  extended  hardly  east- 
of  the  Missouri  River,  has  now  spread  over  the 
world ;  and  from  his  wigwam  and  hunting- 
grounds,  he  is  heard  of  across  the  Atlantic  as  a 
great  man  of  destiny.  He  has  passed  through 
Omaha  and  Chicago  to  Washington  in  his  war 
paint,  ornamented  with  eagle's  feathers,  buffalo- 
ekins,  horse-hair,  bears'  claws,  and  trophies  of 
his  skill,  which  he  values  more  highly  than  a 
brigadier  the  stars  upon  his  shoulders  ! 

Along  with  him  were  nineteen  of  his  braves 
and  four  squaws,  which  is  a  small  number,  con 
sidering  that  the  Indian  is  a  Mormon  in  the  mat 
ter  of  polygamy.  The  Indian  buys  his  wife  (or 
wives)  by  giving  a  pony  for  the  prize ;  and 


102  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

when  Mother  Bickerdyck,  the  armj'-nurse,  saw 
"  Friday"  in  Kansas,  and  upbraided  him  with 
having  two  squaws,  he  said,  "  Well,  give  me  one 
white  squaw,  and  I'll  be  content;  you  know  one 
white  squaw  is  equal  to  two  Indian  squaws !" 

General  Smith  was  a  favorite  of  Red  Cloud's, 
having  met  him  in  the  Powder  River  country, 
and  under  circumstances  which  made  him  re 
spected  among  the  Sioux  Indians. 

The  chiefs  on  Red  Cloud's  staff,  and  going  to 
Washington,  were : 

Shem-ka-lu-tah,  Red  Dog. 

Mon-tah-o-he-te-kah,  Brave  Bear. 

Pah-gee,  Little  Bear. 

Mon-tah-zia,  Yellow  Bear. 

Makh-to-u-ta-kah,  Sitting  Bear. 

Makh-to-ha-she-na,  Bearskin. 

Sha-ton-sa-pah,  Black  Hawk. 

Shunk-mon-e-too-ha-ka,  Long  Wolf. 

Me-wah-kohn,  Sword. 

Ko-ke-pah,  Afraid. 

Ke-cha-ksa-e-un-tah,  The  One  that  runs 
through. 

Ke-yah-lu-tah,  Red  Fly. 

En-ha-mah-to,  Rock  Bear. 

Me-nah-to-ne-ow-jah,  Living  Bear. 

Och-le-he-lu-tah,  Red  Shirt. 

Squaws  of  High  Blood. 

Dah-sa-no-we,The  White  Cow  Rattler,  Sword's 
wife. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  103 

Ny-ge-uh-ha,  Thunder  Skin,  wife  of  Ke-cha- 
ksa-e-un-tah. 

E-dah-zit-chu,  The  Woman  without  a  Bow 
(Sansarc  tribe),  wife  of  Yellow  Bear. 

Mak-ko-cha-ny-un-tah-ker,The  World  Looker, 
wife  ofBlack  Hawk. 

Along  .with  them  were  John  Richaud,  the 
renegade,  and  a  half-breed,  James  McCluskey. 
Also  William  G.  Bullock,  the  post-trader  at  Fort 
Laramie,  as  familiar  with  the  Indians  as  any  one 
in  those  parts,  unless  it  is  a  wealthy  merchant 
in  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Beauvais,  a  Frenchman. 

As  the  Indians  entered  the  cars  at  Pine  Bluff 
Station, — and  one  can  hardly  imagine  what  were 
their  thoughts,  because  they  had  never  before 
seen  a  train  of  cars  or  a  locomotive, — a  friend 
who  was  there  said  that,  as  soon  as  the  cars 
started,  the  Indians  expressed  some  terror  in 
their  countenances,  and  all  at  once  grasped  hold 
of  the  seats  with  both  hands  to  hold  on  !  As 
they  passed  through  Columbus,  on  the  road, 
several  of  the  Pawnees  (their  deadly  enemies) 
came  in  and  shook  hands  with  them.  Arrived 
at  Omaha,  they  were  quartered  at  the  Cozzens 
Hotel ;  but  instead  of  occupying  bedrooms  and 
beds,  they  spread  their  blankets  and  skins  on  the 
floor,  and  sank  down  to  a  rest  much  coveted 
after  a  long  and  tedious  journey  of  a  thousand 
miles.  Here  crowds  poured  in  from  every 
quarter  to  interview  these  noted  warriors;  but  us 


104  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

they  did  not  speak  English,  they  were  only  gazed 
at  by  curious  people. 

Red  Dog  ranks  next  as  a  warrior  chief,  and  is 
much  finer  looking;  but  Mari-afraid-of-his-IIorses 
(sick  at  home)  is  head  chief  in  civil  matters. 

Red  Shirt  is  head  chief  of  the  White-Sash 
Band,  of  three  hundred  braves,  is  twenty-seven 
years  of  age,  and  was  twice  wounded  in  battle. 

Long  Wolf,  with  four  ugly  scars,  is  of  the  same 
band. 

Black  Hawk,  wounded  three  times,  is  about 
second  to  lied  Cloud  as  a  bold  warrior.  All 
have  distinguished  themselves  in  various  ways, 
and  their  buffalo-robes  are  worked  and  stained 
with  figures  and  various  objects,  all  of  which  tell 
the  history  of  each  one,  describing  minutely  from 
childhood  the  first  game  they  killed,  whether  a 
bird,  antelope,  or  deer,  and  so  on  to  some  fight 
with  an  enemy, — all  of  which,  clear  as  mud  to 
me,  is  plain  to  them  as  a  book.  It  is  said  that 
Red  Cloud  had  prepared  the  following  speech  to 
make  to  his  "  Great  Father,"  the  President;  but 
he  changed  his  mind,  and  made  another : 

"  Thousands  of  miles  away,  where  the  sun's 
last  light  falls  on  the  big  hills,  I  have,  left  my 
people,  to  come  and  look  my  Father  in  the  face. 
As  that  light  makes  us  see  all  things  around  us 
clearly,  so  may  the  Great  Spirit  make  our  talk 
plain,  that  we  may  understand  each  other,  and 
that  our  councils  shall  be  as  brothers  who  have 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  105 

met  to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace.  Father,  I  have 
heard  that  you  are  great  and  good.  Listen  to 
me,  my  Father,  and  let  your  ears  hear  one  of  your 
children,  who  comes  from  the  wigwams  of  his 
people,  with  truth  in  his  heart,  and  no  lies  upon 
his  lips.  I  have  made  many  treaties  with  your 
Commissioners,  and  they  have  promised  many 
times,  but  have  never  kept  their  promises  ;  and 
I  have  now  come  to  see  my  Great  Father  myself, 
so  that  we  can  understand  each  other,  and  make 
no  promises  that  we  do  not  mean  to  keep.  They 
have  told  you  that  I  am  a  murderer  ;  but  I  do  not 
understand  it  in  that  way.  You,  Great  Father, 
have  driven  me  away  from  my  country, — the 
only  country  I  had  to  raise  my  children  on.  Tell 
me,  Father,  could  any  living  man  on  this  earth 
stand  such  a  thing  as  this  ?  Suppose  I  should  go 
to  your  country,  tear  down  your  fences,  and  steal 
your  cattle  and  your  hogs,  would  you  stand  by 
and  have  no  word  to  say  ?  No,  Father,  I  know 
you  would  not.  In  all  the  troubles  of  my  people, 
the  white  man  has  been  the  first  aggressor. 
Father,  we  are  not  cowards.  We  know  that  you 
are  great,  and  that  you  can  crush  us  with  your 
mighty  power.  But  we  believe  that  you  are 
good,  and  that  you  will  protect  your  children, 
when  they  come  to  you  for  what  they  believe  is 
theirs.  We  ask  you  to  listen  to  us,  to  do  by  us 
as  a  good  father  should  do  by  his  children,  and  to 
let  us  carry  back  to  our  brothers  and  our  people 


106  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

the  assurance  that  the  Great  Spirit  has  smiled 
upon  us,  and  that  the  Great  Father  is  the  Indian's 
friend,  and  the  Indian's  protector." 


KED    CLOUD  S   JOURNEY. 

The  following  piece  of  history  is  compiled 
from  all  that  I  could  learn  about  a  journey, 
•which  will  be  worth  preserving,  if  only  the  re 
sults  prove  to  be  a  lasting  peace,  as  we  hope  and 
pray  it  will  be. 

In  1866,  in  searching  for  a  short  route  to  Mon 
tana  and  Idaho,  the  government  took  possession 
of  the  Powder  River  and  Big  Horn  country,  along 
the  mountains,  where  gold  is  said  to  abound.  A 
regiment  of  soldiers  was  ordered,  under  Colonel 
Carrington, — the  18th  Regulars, — to  open  up  a 
'road  and  build  forts  for  protection. 

He  went  up  by  Fort  Laramie,  an  old  trading- 
post,  situated  on  the  North  Platte  Eiver ;  from 
there  he  laid  out  one  that  shortened  the  distance 
from  Omaha  to  Virginia  City,  Montana,  three 
hundred  miles.  The  colonel  founded  three  forts, 
one  on  Powder  River,  one  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Big  Horn,  and  one  on  Tongue  River.  They 
were  named  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  Fort  Reno,  and 
Fort  Phil.  Kearney, — after  distinguished  gen 
erals.  These  cost  about  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  As  soon  as  it  reached  the  Indians  that 
their  country  was  to  be  occupied  by  the  whites, 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  107 

Red  Cloud  claimed  the  whole  portion  all  along 
the  Big  Horn  Mountains,  and  sent  word  to  them 
that  the  Indians  would  kill  all  they  met.  Notice 
was  sent  to  the  government  that  if  the  soldiers 
did  not  withdraw  north  of  the  Platte,  he  would 
declare  war.  Of  course  no  attention  was  paid 
to  this,  and  the  colonel  went  on  to  open  roads, 
strengthen  posts,  and  patrol  the  country.  Some 
skirmishes  took  place  between  small  bands  of 
Indians  and  parties,  but  no  fight  of  much  account 
occurred  till  fall. 

In  October  it  was  said  that  Red  Cloud  had 
given  orders  for  all  the  Sioux  to  meet  and  pre 
pare  for  war,  and  next  month  it  was  reported  he 
was  marching  at  the  head  of  three  thousand 
warriors.  This  the  government  as  usual  was  slow 
to  believe,  and  gave  no  heed  to  it.  But  early  in 
December  the  Indians  became  troublesome  along 
the  Powder  River  country,  and  Red  Cloud's 
policy  was  seen  to  guide  them.  The  wily  chief 
had  planned  the  movement  so  as  to  strike  a  hard 
blow  and  capture  Fort  Kearney,  and  murder  the 
garrison. 

PHIL.    KEARNEY   MASSACRE. 

Red  Cloud  collected  all  his  warriors  near  the 
fort,  and  concealed  them  in  the  hills.  Watching 
his  opportunity,  he  surrounded  and  attacked  a 
small  party  sent  out  against  him  from  the  post. 
As  he  expected,  when  the  attack  was  made 


L 


108  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

known,  the  gates  of  the  fort  were  thrown  open, 
and  the  main  portion  of  the  soldiers — cavalry 
and  infantry — marched  out  to  rescue  their  friends, 
corraled  by  the  Indians.  As  soon  as  he  got  them 
where  he  wanted,  in  the  hills,  he  surrounded  them 
with  his  three  thousand  warriors,  and  cutting  oft* 
all  chance  of .  retreat,  massacred  every  one  of 
them !  So  sudden  was  the  surprise,  that  the 
battle  was  over  before  a  reinforcement  could  go 
out,  and  the  commander  at  once  closed  the  gates 
and  remained  in  a  state  of  siege,  to  protect  those 
who  were  not  slaughtered.  In  the  Phil.  Kearney 
massacre  there  fell  three  officers,  forty-nine  in 
fantry,  twenty-two  cavalry,  and  two  citizen  em 
ployes,  with  Colonel  Fetterman,  the  officer  who 
led  them. 

After  the  Phil.  Kearney  massacre,  which 
thrilled  the  country  with  horror,  the  govern- 
^>ment  hastened  to  call  a  council  with  all  the 
tribes  at  Fort  Laramie,  and  sent  Generals  Sher 
man,  Harney,  Sanborn,  Terry,  Augur,  and  Col 
onel  Tappan  to  treat  with  them.  Red  Cloud  kept 
up  his  skirmishes  and  lights  as  occasion  offered. 
The  1st  of  August,  1867,  the  Sioux  attacked  and 
killed  Lieutenant  Sternberg,  of  27th  Regiment 
Infantry.  And  the  next  day  quite  a  large  body 
of  warriors  engaged  Major  Powell  and  his  soldiers 
on  the  Piney  Creek,  four  miles  from  Kearney,  and 
a  severe  battle  was  fought  for  hours.  On  the  27th, 
some  Indians  came  down — about  one  hundred 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  109 

and  twenty — to  the  hay-fields  near  the  fort,  and 
Lieutenant  Belden,  of  2d  Cavalry  (a  good  fighter), 
went  for  them  with  forty  soldiers,  and  cleared 
them  out.  On  the  3d  November,  Brevet  Captain 
E.  R.  P.  Shurley  (whom  the  writer  knew  as 
post-adjutant  in  Camp  Douglas,  Illinois,  and 
who  was  wounded  in  the  war)  was  suddenly 
attacked  on  Goose  Creek;  he  was  desperately t 
wounded,  and  his  command  was  surrounded 
and  "  corraled"  for  some  time,  until  troops 
came  to  his  relief  and  saved  the  "  outfit."  Soon 
after,  the  train  going  to  Phil.  Kearney  was  at 
tacked  and  corraled  within  three  miles  of  the 
post.  The  14th  December,  the  wood-choppers 
for  the  forts  were  attacked  on  the  Big  Piney,  and 
two  men  wounded.  The  forts  now  were  in  a  state  of 
siege,  and  communication  between  them  became 
nearly  cut  off.  The  council  atLaramie  agreed  to 
abandon  that  portion  of  the  country,  it  being  no 
longer  needed,  as  freighting  was  changed  to 
Montana,  via  Coriune,  on  the  Pacific  Railroad. 
But  the  Indians  became  impatient,  and  to  hurry 
up  matters,  they  kept  on  skirmishing  from  time 
to  time.  These  were  Sioux  and  some  of  the 
Arapahoes  and  Cheyennes. 

In  January,  1868,  quite  a  scare  was  gotten  up 
at  Phil.  Kearney  by  the  sudden  appearance  of 
several  hundred  Sioux,  Cheyennes,  and  Arapa 
hoes,  along  with  some  friendly  Crow  Indians,  and 
an  attack  was  supposed  to  be  meditated. 


110  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Dr.  Matthews,  one  of  the  special  peace-  com 
missioners,  was  there  at  the  time,  and  he  sent  a 
message  to  the  chiefs  to  meet  him  in  council  on 
the  hill  above  the  fort.  Most  of  the  Indians 
came,  and  after  prayer  by  post-chaplain  "White, 
and  a  long  smoke,  the  doctor  made  them  a 
speech.  After  this,  an  old  Sioux  Indian,  named 
.the  "  Stabber,"  got  up  and  said, — 

"  Whoever  our  father  who  has  just  spoken  is, 
I  believe  he  is  a  good  man.  We  are  told  that 
the  Great  Father  (President)  sent  word  some 
time  ago  for  his  soldiers  to  leave  the  country, 
and  I  want  to  tell  you  that  we  want  them  to 
hurry  and  go.  Send  word  to  the  Great  Father 
to  take  away  his  warriors  with  the  snow  and  he 
will  please  us.  If  they  can  go  right  away,  let  it 
be  done,  so  that  we  can  bring  our  old  men, 
women,  and  children  to  live  on  these  grounds  in 
peace,  as  they  did  before  you  all  came  here.  The 
Sioux,  Arapahoes,  and  Cheyennes  never  fought 
each  other  until  you  came  and  drove  away  the 
game  (meaning  in  the  whole  West),  and  then  at 
tempted  to  drive  us  away.  Now  we  fight  each 
other  for  sufficient  ground  to  hunt  upon,  though 
all  the  lands  to  the  east  were  once  ours.  We  are 
talking  to-day  on  our  own  grounds.  God  Al 
mighty  made  this  ground,  and  when  He  made  it 
He  made  it  for  us.  Look  about  you,  and  see  how 
He  has  stocked  it  with  game.  The  elk,  the  buf 
falo,  and  deer  are  our  meat,  and  He  put  them 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  HI 

here  for  us  to  feed  upon.  Your  homes  are  in  the 
East,  and  you  have  beef  cattle  to  eat.  Why,  then, 
do  you  come  here  to  bother  us  ?  What  have  you 
your  soldiers  here  for,  unless  it  is  to  light  and 
kill  us  ?  If  you  will  go  away  to  your  homes  and 
leave  us,  we  will  be  at  peace,  but  if  you  stay  we 
will  fight.  We  do  not  go  to  your  homes,  then 
why  come  to  ours  ?  You  say  we  steal  your  cattle 
and  horses ;  well,  do  you  not  know  that  when 
you  come  into  our  lands,  and  kill  and  drive  away 
the  game,  you  steal  from  us  ?  That  is  the  reason 
we  steal  your  stock.  I  am  done." 

When  "Stabber"  sat  down,  "Black  Hawk" 
(now  en  route  for  Washington)  came  forward  and 
said, — 

"Where  was  I  made?  I  was  raised  in  the 
West,  not  in  the  East.  I  was  not  raised  in  a 
chair,  but  grew  upon  the  ground."  He  then  sat 
down  on  the  earth,  and  continued  :  "  Here  is  my 
mother,  and  I  will  stay  with  her  and  protect  her. 
Laramie  has  always  been  our  place  for  talking, 
and  I  did  not  like  to  come  here.  You  are  get 
ting  too  far  west.  You  have  killed  many  of  our 
young  men,  and  we  have  killed  some  of  yours  in 
return.  I  want  to  quit  fighting  to-day.  I  want 
you  to  take  pity  on  us  and  go  away." 

A  Cheyenne  chief  next  addressed  the  council. 
He  said, — 

<'  We  have  been  told  that  these  forts  are  to  be 
abandoned  and  the  new  road  given  up,  and  we 


112  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

have  come  over  to  see  about  it.  If  this  is  true, 
tell  me  so.  I  never  thought  we  would  come  to 
a  council  so  far  west,  but  the  old  men  prevailed 
and  we  are  here.  All  last  summer  we  heard  that 
General  Harney  wanted  to  see  us  atLaramie,  but 
we  would  not  go.  General  Sherman  also  sent 
for  us,  but  we  would  not  listen  while  you  were 
here.  I  do  not  know  the  name  of  my  father 
there  (pointing  to  Dr.  Matthews),  nor  who  at 
present  is  my  Great  Father  (President)  at  Wash 
ington,  but  this  I  do  know,  my  father  (his  parent) 
when  he  raised  me  told  me  to  shake  hands  with 
the  white  man,  and  to  try  to  live  at  peace  with 
him,  for  he  was  very  powerful.  But  my  father 
also  told  me  to  fight  my  enemies,  and  since  the 
white  man  has  made  himself  an  enemy  I  fight 
him.  How  are  you  our  enemy  ?  You  come  here 
and  drive  away  our  game,  and  he  who  does  that 
steals  away  our  bread,  and  becomes  the  Indian's 
bitterest  enemy,  for  the  Indian  must  have  food 
to  live.  I  have  fought  you,  and  I  have  stolen 
from  yoii^  but  I  have  done  both  to  live.  The 
only  road  you  have  a  right  to  travel  is  the  Platte 
road.  We  have  never  crossed  it  to  fight  you.  I 
am  a  soldier.  I  have  a  great  many  young  men 
here  who  are  soldiers,  and  will  do  my  bidding. 
It  is  our  duty  to  protect  and  feed  our  old  men, 
women,  and  children,  and  we  must  do  it.  If  you 
are  friendly,  why  don't  you  give  us  powder  and 
bullets  to  shoot  game  with  ?  We  will  not  use 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  113 

them  against  you,  unless  you  do  us  harm.  I 
want  ten  kegs,  and  when  the  other  tribes  know 
you  have  given  them  to  me  they  will  know  we 
are  good  friends,  and  will  come  in  and  treat,  and 
we  will  all  live  at  peace.  I  come  here  to  hear 
talk,  not  to  make  talk.  We  are  poor.  Take 
pity  on  us,  and  deal  justly  by  us.  I  have  done." 

The  next  speaker  was  a  Crow  chief,  who, 
standing  by  the  council-table,  said, — 

"  Sioux,  Cheyennes,  Arapahoes,  Crows,  Fa 
ther  :  I  have  been  listening  to  your  words,  and 
they  sound  good.  I  hope  you  are  not  lying  to 
each  other.  The  Crows  have  long  been  the 
friends  of  the  whites,  and  we  want  peace  for  all. 
We  want  powder,  and  when  the  white  Father 
makes  us  presents,  I  want  him  to  give  us  a  good 
deal  of  ammunition." 

An  Arapahoe  chief  said  : 

"I  want  to  say  this:  You  are  here  with  sol 
diers,  and  what  for  ?  Soldiers  are  your  fighting 
men.  Do  you  then  want  to  fight  ?  If  so,  tell  us. 
If  you  desire  peace,  send  your  soldiers  away.  I 
have  some  of  your  stock.  I  would  like  to  see 
you  come  and  try  to  get  it  back." 

Thiw  ended  the  talk  on  the  part  of  the  Indians, 
— then  Dr.  Matthews  replied.  He  told  them  the 
Peace  Commissioners  would  as  willingly  meet  at 
Laramie  as  at  any  other  place,  but  it  was  more 
convenient  for  the  Indians  to  come  to  Fort 
Kearney.  He  did  not  promise  them  that  the 
K*  8 


114  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

roads  and  country  would  be  given  up,  or  the 
posts  abandoned.  As  to  the  powder  the  In 
dians  asked  for,  he  gave  no  reply,  but  said, 
"  If  the  Indians  cease  fighting  and  keep  -the 
peace  during  the  winter,  the  Commissioners  will 
meet  them  in  the  spring  and  make  a  treaty, 
which  will  satisfy  both  them  and  us."  The 
council  broke  up, — no  good  result  being  reached, 
—and  the  Indians  being  evidently  in  bad  temper. 
When  asked  why  Red  Cloud  did  not  come  in  to 
attend  the  council,  a  chief  said,  "  He  has  sent  us 
as  the  Great  Father  has  sent  you.  When  the 
Great  Father  comes,  lied  Cloud  will  be  here!" 
This  meant  that  the  haughty  chief  would  only 
treat  through  his  agents,  unless  President  John 
son  came  in  person. 

After  the  council  in  January,  matters  were 
unsettled  all  along  the  northwestern  frontier 
until  10th  April,  1868,  when  a  large  party  of 
Indians  appeared  on  the  bluffs  overlooking  Phil. 
Kearney  Fort.  General  John  E.  Smith  (who  was 
Red  Cloud's  choice  to  escort  him  to  Washington) 
was  at  the  time  commanding  the  post,  and  made 
signals  to  the  Indians  to  come  in,  but  they  refused 
to  do  so. 

Most  of  the  Indians  carried  scalp  poles,  and 
wore  war-paint,  to  show  that  they  were  hostile. 
Finding  that  they  would  not  come  in,  General 
Smith  mounted  his  horse,  and,  taking  an  inter 
preter  (Boyer),  rode  out  to  have  a  parley  with 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  115 

them.  The  general  wished  to  go  up  the  hill,  but 
the  interpreter  begged  him  not  to  do  so,  and  then 
rode  to  the  bottom  and  called  out,  "  How  ?"  Then 
a  chief  replied,  "  How  ?" 

General  Smith. — Come  down,  I  want  to  talk. 

Chief. — Who  are  you,  and  what  do  you  want 
to  talk  about  ? 

General  Smith. — I  am  the  chief  at  the  fort,  and 
want  to  see  you. 

Three  Indians  then  advanced,  and  came  slowly 
down  the  hill  to  where  General  Smith  and  Boyer 
were.  When  the  chief,  who  was  in  his  war-paint, 
came  up,  General  Smith  held  out  his  hand,  but 
the  chief  refused  to  take  it,  saying,  "  My  brother 
was  killed  over  there  at  the  Phil.  Kearney  mas 
sacre,  and  I  swore  never  again  to  shake  hands 
with  a  white  man." 

General  Smith. — Who  are  you,  and  who  are 
those  Indians  on  the  hill  ? 

Chief. — I  am  a  chief,  and  the  warriors  are  part 
of  Red  Cloud's  band.  Here  is  his  son  (at  the 
same  time  pointing  to  a  young  man  who  sat  on 
a  pony  by  his  side). 

General  Smith. — What.have  you  come  here  for  ? 

Chief. — We  have  been  on  the  Laramie  road, 
fighting  the  Snakes. 

General  Smith. — You  were  expected  at  the  big 
talk  at  Laramie  by  the  Peace  Commissioners. 

Chief. — I  was  there,  and  they  promised  that 
this  country  should  be  abandoned  by  your  troops 


116  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

in  two  months.  The  two  months  are  up,  you  are 
still  here,  and  1  see  no  sign  of  your  moving. 

General  Smith  (sharply).  We  have  made  some 
preparations  to  go,  and  will  leave  as  soon  as  all 
is  in  readiness;  but  if  your  warriors  commit 
depredations,  or  kill  any  more  white  men,  we 
will  not  go  at  all,  but  stay  here,  kill  you  and 
drive  off  your  game. 

Chief  (not  noticing  this  threat).  I  want  you  to 
give  me  something  to  eat  for  my  young  men,  and 
I  will  go  over  there  and  camp  on  the  creek  to 
night. 

General  Smith. — I  have  nothing  to  give  you,  but 
I  want  to  warn  you  to  restrain  your  warriors  from 
committing  any  depredations  around  here. 

At  this  stage  of  the  interview,  a  company  of 
cavalry,  which  General  Smith  had  ordered  to 
saddle  up  and  stand  ready  for  any  emergency, 
was  seen  filing  out  of  the  gates  of  the  post,  and 
as  soon  as  the  Indians  caught  sight  of  the  troops, 
they  whipped  up  their  ponies  and  did  not  stop 
till  out  of  sight. 

General  Smith  was  very  much  provoked  at  this 
interruption,  by  a  stupid  officer  coming  out  when 
he  had  no  business  to  do  so, — and  the  impression 
of  treachery  on  his  part  made  on  the  minds  of' 
the  Indians  caused  them  to  refuse  to  come  back 
again  to  have  another  talk  with  him.  Near  sun 
set,  the  Indians  were  seen  crossing  the  plateau 
near  the  creek  where  the  chief  indicated  he 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  117 

would  camp.  The  evening  gun  tired  as  they 
crossed  the  stream,  and  the  whole  party  halted 
and  took  a  good  look  at  the  fort.  After  a  confab 
among  themselves,  they  seemed  to  think  some 
sort  of  defiance  had  been  shown  them,  and  a 
warrior  aiming  his  gun  at  the  fort,  fired.  The 
ball  struck  on  the  parade-ground,  but  did  no 
harm. 

The  Indians  then  went  into  camp,  but  went 
off  next  morning  for  Red  Cloud's  camp,  which 
it  is  thought  was  not  for  off.  General  Smith 
soon  after  gave  up  the  post,  as  ordered  to  from 
Washington;  and  in  like  manner  Reno  and  C. 
F.  Smith  were  abandoned,  and  the  troops  marched 
down  to  Fort  Russell.  The  Indians  did  not  at- 
tack-the  troops,  but  followed  and  stole  stock  when 
they  could.  No  sooner  were  the  forts  abandoned 
than  the  Indians  came  in  and  set  fire  to  the  build 
ings,  destroying  property  that  cost  the  govern 
ment  over  half  a  million  dollars.  They  did  this 
lest  the  troops  should  come  back  and  occupy 
them  again.  But  the  giving  up  of  these  posts 
gave  the  Indians  a  false  idea  of  their  power,  and 
they  thought  the  government  did  it  from  fear. 

Many  of  the  Sioux  now  actually  believe  that 
their  nation  is  more  powerful  than  the  United 
States,  and  Red  Cloud  a  greater  warrior  than 
Grant,  Sherman,  or  Sheridan.  One  of  Red 
Cloud's  party  said,  "  If  you  are  so  strong  and 
have  so  many  warriors,  why  did  you  not  keep 


118  THE  BOY'S  BOOK. 

your  forts  on  the  Powder  River?"  The  delega 
tion  to  Washington  will  go  back  and  tell  the 
people  not  how  many  men,  women,  and  children 
they  saw,  as  evidence  of  our  power  and  great 
ness,  but  how  many  horses,  soldiers,  guns,  and 
corn  they  saw.  For  thus  they  estimate  the 
power  and  glory  of  a  nation. 

Red  Cloud  won  great  glory  among  all  the 
Indians  on  the  plains  by  his  skill  in  manoeu 
vring  in  getting  us  to  give  up  four  hundred  miles 
of  rich  territory,  pulling  down  three  forts,  and 
retiring  back  to  the  Platte  River.  No  chief 
since  King  Philip  *or  Red  Jacket  has  achieved 
such  a  feat  and  a  reputation  as  Red  Cloud. 

On  account  of  repeated  acts  of  hostility  on  the 
part  of  the  Sioux,  the  government  refused  to 
trade  with  them  at  the  posts,  or  have  traders 
sent  among  them.  They  need  powder  and  lead, 
etc.,  but  it  would  be  used  to  kill  our  people  in 
stead  of  game, — they  allege  it  is  needed,  for  now 
it  is  more  scarce. 

Red  Cloud  came  into  Laramie  and  Fetterman 
several  times  to  get  leave  to  trade,  but  at  last  he 
said  "  he'd  go  to  the  Great  Father  at  Washington, 
and  not  treat  with  understrappers,  with  whom 
he  will  in  future  have  nothing  to  do."  About  the 
middle  of  April  he  left  his  hunting-grounds,  and 
on  the  24th  appeared  on  the  north  bank  of  Platte, 
opposite  Fort  Fetterman.  With  him  were  some 
warriors,  squaws,  and  children.  They  marched 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  119 

down  to  the  ferry  in  state,  singing  their  song  of 
welcome,  and  shouted  across  that  they  were  in  a 
hurry !  They  were  halted  there  till  next  day, 
and  the  warriors  allowed  to  come  over  unarmed. 

Colonel  Chambers,  commanding,  received 
them  at  headquarters.  A  long  smokre  all  round 
followed,  and  then  Red  Cloud  rose  up  and  in  a 
loud  voice  invoked  the  countenance  and  favor  of 
the  Great  Spirit  on  his  mission,  shook  hands  with 
all  the  officers  present,  and  went  up  to  the  council- 
table  to  have  a  long  talk,  as  he  had  come  a  long 
way,  and  wanted  to  trade. 

He  said,  "  I  have  been  treating  with  you  since 
1851,  and  no  good  has  come  of  it.  Our  treaties 
do  not  last,  and  now  I  want  to  go  and  see  the 
Great  Father,  and  make  a  treaty  that  will  last. 
Tell  the  Great  Father  I  am  here  and  desire  to  see 
him,  and  take  fifty  of  my  people  with  me  to  see 
him.  I  will  wait  for  his  reply  at  my  camp  beyond 
the  river." 

Colonel  Chambers  said  he  would  "  blow  the 
Great  Father  a  message  on  his  hollow  wire,  and  re 
peat  all  the  chief  had  said  to  him,"  which  quite 
pleased  Red  Cloud.  He  said,  "  I  have  waited 
for  the  soldiers  to  leave  my  country,  and  I  want 
things  settled." 

The  colonel  intimated  that  the  Father  was  at 
that  time  very  far  away  at  the  East,  and  it  might 
be  many  "  sleeps"  before  he  could  hear  from  him, 
and  as  soon  as  the  Father  blew  back  words  by 


120  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

the  telegraph,  he  would  send  word  to  the  chief's 
camp  and  let  him  know.  He  then  asked  to  trade, 
and  was  allowed  to  buy  tobacco  and  flour  for  robes 
left  with  the  commissary,  but  nothing  else. 

He  then  spoke  of  his  prisoner,  John  Richaud, 
and  his  wish  to  take  him  to  Washington  for  a 
pardon.  Also,  that  Rieehaud  had  some  property 
in  the  fort  locked  up,  which  he  wanted  a  chief 

to  take  care  of.  Colonel  C said  he  would 

not  do  that  without  orders  from  his  chief  (General 
Augur)  at  Omaha.  This  was  satisfactory,  and 
the  chief  sat  down. 

Speeches  then  were  made  by  Man-afraid-of-his- 
Horses  and  Red  Horse,  and  the  council  broke  up. 

Soon  as  it  was  known  at  Washington,  and  a 
consultation  was  had  with  General  Sherman  and 
Secretary  of  War  Belknap,  the  President  sent 
word  that  he  would  be  glad  to  see  the  chief,  and 
would  send  a  guide  to  show  him  the  way  to  the 
Great  Father's  wigwam.  This  message  came  the 
12th  May,  and  the  Indians  started  on  the  14th. 
A  great  dance  was  celebrated  among  the  tribe  of 
Ogallallas,  and  repeated  at  Fort  Laramie  for  the 
officers  and  families. 

To  this  point  Red  Cloud's  son  and  wife  came, 
but  they  returned  with  the  others  to  their  hunt 
ing-grounds  in  the  Sioux  country. 

When  the  party  under  General  Smith  left  the 
post  in  ambulances,  etc.,  some  felt  "  sea-sick," 
never  having  rode  in  a  wagon  Before ! 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  121 

Once  on  the  (Jars,  it  was  kept  as  quiet  as 
possible.  At  Fremont,  forty-seven  miles  from 
Omaha,  it  had  leaked  out,  and  much  excitement 
prevailed  there,  as  it  was  reported  that  the 
Pawnees,  the  old  and  inveterate  enemies  of  the 
Sioux,  were  coming  in  from  their  reservation 
(near  there),  and  would  attack  the  train  and  kill 
the  Sioux  chiefs.  A  number  of  them  were  there 
when  the  train  came  along,  but  they  kept  very 
quiet.  One  or  two  of  the  Pawnees  went  up  and 
shook  hands  with  their  old  enemies  (with  whom 
a  deadly  feud  has  existed  for  years),  but  they 
were  closely  watched  by  General  Smith,  lest  a 
stab  should  be  given  with  their  knives.  Although 
the  Sioux  chiefs  were  told  of  the  danger,  they 
were  "  as  cool  about  it  as  a  cucumber."  They 
looked  at  their  knives  being  all  right,  and  that 
was  all.  Of  course  all  along  their  route  they 
were  objects  of  curiosity  to  everybody ;  and  had 
the  government  declined  to  have  them  go  (as  it 
was  said  at  first  they  would),  a  war  would  havo 
followed  soon  after ! 


PERILOUS  ADVENTURE — PURSUIT  OF  A  HORSE:THIEF. 

A  young  man  named  Frank  Hunter,  born  in 
Massachusetts,  migrated  to  the  Indian  country, 
and  was  very  successfully  employed  as  "a  gov 
ernment  detective  in  "  Camp  Carling,"  between 
Cheyenne  and  Fort  Russell.  In  the  winter  of 


122  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

1868,  a  bold  robbery  was  committed  by  a  man 
employed  in  taking  care  of  horses  by  Major  J. 
D.  Woolley,  the  post-trader  at  Fort  Russell. 

One  morning  in  December  the  stable-door  was 
left  open,  and  soon  found  out  that  the  man  and 
two  valuable  horses  were  missing.  One  of  them 
belonged  to  Lieutenant  "Wanl  ess,  of  the  2d  United 
States  Cavalry  (who  was  East  at  the  time  on 
leave);  this  was  the  fastest  pacing  horse  in  the 
territory,  and  for  which  he  had  refused  a  high 
price  in  money.  The  other  belonged  to  the 
major,  and  was  of  considerable  value.  The 
matter  of  catching  the  thief  and  horses  was 
given  into  Mr.  Hunter's  hands,  with  instructions 
to  spare  no  pains  or  expense  in  securing  the  thief, 
who  had  hired  out  on  purpose  to  steal  the  fast 
nag.  The  following  I  copied  from  the  detective's 
journal,  and  verified  the  facts  from  other  sources. 

Mr.  Hunter  started  out  to  Colorado  with  ten 
cavalrymen  and  Lieutenant  Belden  on  the  road 
to  Denver  via  Boulder  City,  to  prevent  the  thief 
(who  went  by  the  name  of  Durant)  from  getting 
into  the  mountains,  and  so  on  to  New  Mexico. 
This  trip  proved  fruitless.  The  alternative  that 
suggested  itself  was  that  the  thief  had  gone 
another  road,  towards  the  Smoky-Hill  route. 
The  first  tidings  revealed  the  fact  to  them,  at  the 
South  Platte  River,  that  the  inferior  horse  had 
been  disposed  of  near  Godfrey's  ranch  on  the 
Platte,  where  the  writer's  horse  and  a  beautiful 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  123 

Cheyenne  pony  had  been  taken  by  horse-thieves 
in  the  preceding  summer.  The  thief,  hard  pushed 
for  money,  had  sold  Mr.  Woolley's  horse  to  a 
man  here  named  Perkins,  who  paid  thirty-five 
dollars,  while  he  was  worth  two  hundred  dollars. 
This  he  placed  out  of  the  way,  some  thirty  miles 
off,  thinking  him  safe  from  discovery. 

Here  the  utmost  caution  and  strategy  were 
necessary  to  recover  this  horse  they  had  secreted, 
and  find  out  what  road  the  rogues  took  with  the 
thoroughbred  animal.  But  it  was  done.  The 
detective  came  back  to  Cheyenne  with  his  escort 
and  left  it  there.  Then,  on  one  of  Wells,  Fargo 
&  Co.'s  fast  coaches,  he  embarked  for  Denver 
City.  A  heavy  snow-storm  set  in  and  impeded 
the  way.  Thus  the  thief  had  nine  days  the  start. 

From  Denver  he  made  the  best  of  his  way — 
after  being  detained  five  days  by  the  storm — for 
Sheridan,  in  Kansas,  which  was  reached  in  five 
more  days'  time, — the  trip  being  made  usually 
by  railroad  in  forty-eight  hours.  At  Sheridan 
the  cars  were  blockaded  with  snow,  and  quite  a 
number  of  gentlemen  were  snow-bound,  among 
them  the  members  of  Congress  from  New  Mexico 
and  Kansas.  The  detective  proposed  to  these 
honorable  gents  the  pleasure  of  a  tramp  as  far  as 
Fort  Hays,  only  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
miles  !  All  agreed,  and  the  party  set  out,  though 
the  snow  was  very  deep. 

The  expedition  proved  to  be  one  of  much  in- 


124  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

terest;  but  the  pursuit  of  the  thief  being  the 
main,  object  before  us,  we  find  the  detective  ar- 
rived  at  Fort  Harker,  Kansas,  and  in  communi 
cation  with  a  gentleman  named  Stone,  who  had 
seen  the  famous  pacer,  and  had  tried  to  buy  him 
of  the  supposed  owner  ;  and  from  him  the  detec 
tive  learned  that  the  horse  was  near  at  hand, 
only  twenty  miles  farther  east,  at  a  place  called 
"  Saline,"  on  a  small  river,  in  Kansas.  From 
this  place  the  thief  intended  to  convey  the  horse 
to  Aurora,  Illinois  (his  native  town),  to  match  him 
there  with  another,  and  thus  to  obtain  a  large 
sum  of  money  for  his  thieving  wickedness. 

Arrived  in  Saline,  Mr.  Hunter  lost  no  time  in 
putting  himself  in  communication  with  the  sheriff 
there,  who  seemed  to  Mr.  Hunter  not  to  be  en 
tirely  reliable  ;  indeed,  from  a  careful  survey  of 
faces  of  the  loungers  in  the  bar-room  of  the  one- 
horse  town  of  border  settlers,  the  sheriff  appeared 
to  be  hand-in-glove  with  the  thief,  so  he  concluded 
that  his  only  chance  of  any  help  in  the  matter 
could  come  from  the  landlord  and  the  telegraph 
operator, — the  latter  having  sent  messages  from 
the  rogue  to  Aurora,  while  detained  thereby  the 
depth  of  snow.  But  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and 
a  desperate  effort  must  be  made. 

Mr.  Hunter  went  into  the  bar-room  with  the 
sheriff,  after  breakfast,  and  a  crowd  was  sitting 
around  the  stove.  The  rogue  was  sent  for  with 
a  message  that  "  a  gentleman  wished  to  speak 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  125 

with  him."  He  came  into  the  room  presently, 
picking  his  teeth,  and  putting  on  an  assumed  air 
of  indifference;  he  looked  at  the  detective  with  a 
coolness  quite  refreshing,  as  he  stepped  up  to  the 
bar  and  called  for  cigars,  saying,  "  Gentlemen, 
who'll  have  a  smoke  ?  I  don't  see  any  gentleman 
here  that  I  know,  besides  myself." 

"  How  are  you,  Ned?"  said  Mr.  Hunter.  "You 
don't  know  me  ?" 

"  Gentlemen,"  replied  he,  "  on  my  honor,  be 
fore  God,  I  never  saw  this  man  before  in  my  life ! 
This  is  a  put-up  game  of  a  man  named  Stone,  to 
bilk  me  out  of  my  fast  horse  ;  and  (putting  his 
hand  on  his  six-shooter  in  his  belt)  no  man  shall 
get  this  horse,  which  I  bought,  or  me  either, 
alive." 

The  detective  with  great  presence  of  mind  as 
sured  him  that  his  game  was  up  ;  that  the  first 
motion  he  made  of  resistance  he  was  a  dead 
man !  Then  drawing  a  pair  of  manacles  from 
his  pocket,  he  soon  clasped  them  on  his  prison 
er's  wrists,  and  relieved  the  rogue  of  his  pistols, 
handing  them  over  to  the  barkeeper  for  safety. 
He  was  taken  to  his  room  to  pick  up  his  traps, 
until  the  horse  could  be  saddled  up  to  return. 

By  this  time  a  reaction  had  taken  place  among 
the  crowd,  who  seemed  to  sympathize  with  the 
thief,  and  some  exclaimed  against  taking  him, 
and  for  all  they  knew,  he  might  be  innocent. 
Here  was  a  new  danger  not  expected.  If  these 

L* 


126  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

fifteen  or  twenty  hard-looking  customers  should 
take  it  into  their  heads  to  vote  the  man  guiltless, 
there  was  an  end  to  justice,  and  the  detective 
might  find  himself  suspended  from  the  nearest 
cottonwood  limb  of  a  tree,  dangling  like  Mo 
hammed's  coffin,  between  heaven  and  earth !  But 
as  good  luck  would  have  it,  the  irons  pressed 
tightly  and  painfully  on  the  wrists  of  the  captive, 
and  he  cried  from  his  room,  "  Hunter  !  oh,  Hun 
ter  !  come  and  loose  these  cursed  irons, — they're 
killing  me  !" 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  said  Hunter,  "you  see 
whether  he  knows  me  or  not."  To  the  prisoner 
he  said,  "  I'll  loosen  them  if  you'll  tell  all  about 
it."  He  came  in  and  said,  "Yes,  I  stole  the 
horse ;  I'm  a  thief,  and  that  man  is  a  detective 
of  the  government  from  Cheyenne." 

Of  course,  here  all  danger  should  end,  and  my 
story  cease.  But  the  truth  is,  something  new 
turned  up  very  often  to  embarrass  the  journey 
back  to  Cheyenne.  After  leaving  Fort  Harker, 
a  new  dodge  was  attempted,  but  different  from 
the  one  that  Paddy  essayed  when  he  greased  the 
horse's  mouth  to  save  the  oats.  Leaving  the  cul 
prit  in  irons  at  Fort  Harker,  the  detective  pro 
ceeded  on  to  Fort  Ellsworth,  Kansas,  from  which 
place  he  started  in  the  morning  with  his  horse, 
in  high  hopes  of  reaching  Cheyenne  in  a  few 
days. 

But  alas  for  the  vanity  of  human  hopes  and 


ABOUT  INDIANS  127 

expectations !  Having  ridden  about  fifteen 
miles,  'the  horse  came  to  a  sudden  pause,  and 
acted  like  one  afflicted  with  spring-halt.  Stop 
ping  at  a  ranch  near  by,  after  a  careful  examina 
tion,  it  was  found  that  some  precious  villains  had 
tied  some  silk  cords  on  his  legs  underneath  the 
fetlocks,  thoroughly  crippling  him,  so  he  could 
hardly  move  a  limb.  They  hoped  to  lame  the 
horse  till  he  could  be  stolen  again  !  But  it  was 
not  successful.  This  journey  of  seventeen  hun 
dred  miles  cost  the  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars. 
But  the  horses  were  valued  at  fifteen  hundred 
dollars,  and  it  was  right  to  put  a  stop,  if  possible, 
to  the  crime  so  common  in  the  West  of  stealing 
horses,  and  one  which  subjects  the  culprit  to  a 
ball  in  his  body,  if  needful  to  recapture  stolen 
stock,  and  all  say  it  is  just  and  right,  as  a  man's 
horse  there  may,  in  some  cases,  be  "  his  life." 

But  the  fellow  while  in  limbo  sawed  off  the 
chain  and  ball  from  his  leg  and  escaped.  He, 
moreover,  had  the  impudence  to  write  a  saucy 
letter  to  Mr.  Hunter,  telling  him  "  that  the  caged 
bird  had  flown,  and  the  probability  of  their  never 
meeting  again  !" 

The  rascal  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  army,  de 
serting  several  times,  and  re-enlisting  under  a 
new  name  each  time,  at  different  posts  in  ti.o 
western  country. 


128  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 


HANGING   HORSE-THIEVES. 

It  seems  awful  when  we  hear  of  the  "  Vigilance 
committees"  in  new  countries.  They  are  a  body 
of  men  combining  together,  in  a  secret  society, 
to  rid  the  community  of  vile  men,  who  rob,  steal, 
and  commit  murder,  just  as  easy  as  lying,  and 
all  for  a  few  dollars.  I  say  it  seems  awful  to  hear 
of  their  sentencing  individuals  to  be  hung  by  the 
neck  to  the  telegraph-poles,  often  with  only  a 
single  hour's  notice,  without  a  trial  by  jury.  But 
it  is  done  in  new  towns  such  as  Julesburg  was, 
where  people  would  not  be  safe  without  some 
such  action.  California  began  it,  and  other 
places  found  it  necessary. 

At  Cheyenne,  when  it  was  full  of  these  horse- 
thieves  and  gamblers,  I  was  called  upon  to  bury 
"a  gentleman"  (as  he  was  called),  who  had  died 
suddenly,  they  said,  at  the  "  Beauvais  House." 
I  went  down  from  the  fort  in  February,  and  as 
the  day  was  pleasant,  crowds  of  young  men  were 
gathered  in  front  of  the  house,  and  the  street  was 
full  of  carriages.  It  seems  the  dead  man  was  the 
proprietor  of  the  hotel,  and  it  did  not  bear  a  very 
good  reputation.  Harris  had  formerly  a  partner 
named  Martin,  with  whom  he  had  a  quarrel  one 
evening,  and  Harris  ordered  his  former  partner 
to  leave, — shutting  the  door  upon  him.  Then 
Martin  turned  and  shot  three  balls  through  the 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  129 

panel  of  the  door,  one  of  which  hit  Harris,  and 
of  which  he  died  in  about  twelve  hours.  This 
produced  a  great  excitement,  and  called  out  the 
crowd  at  the  funeral.  The  person  in  charge  asked 
me  to  step  out  on  the  balcony  and  address  the 
people  in  the  street.  But  I  declined,  and  said  I 
would  speak  to  the  young  men,  as  I  felt  it  my 
duty  to  'do,  in  the  parlor  and  hall.  I  remarked 
to  them  "  that  the  deceased  was  past  our  praise  or 
blame.  But  it  was  my  duty  to  warn  them  at 
this  time,  when  no  man's  life  was  safe,  to  think 
of  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  human  life! 
Here,  away  from  good  examples  you  once  had  at 
home,  you  are  in  much  danger.  You  and  I  think 
that  we  will  die  on  a  sick-bed,  with  dear  friends 
around  us ;  but  you  nor  I  will  die  just  when  or 
where  we  expect  to.  Some  of  you  have  learned 
to  say  your  prayers  at  your  mother's  knee,  but  you 
forget,  or  are  ashamed  to  do  so  now.  Oh,  be 
warned,  my  friends,  to  seek  Christ  and  his  favor, 
and  He  will  take  care  of  you,  etc." 

I  could  see  many  faces  intent  on  what  I  had  to 
say,  and  among  them  was  a  little  dwarf  belong 
ing  to  the  house,  as  an  errand-boy.  He  covered 
up  his  face  with  his  hands,  sitting  upon  a  low 
stool,  and  perhaps  his  mind  wandered  back  to 
the  humble  cottage  where  he  was  born,  and  a 
mother's  smile  was  his  best  beacon  of  goodness : 
he  had  not  forgotten  !  For  when  I  came  back 
from  the  graveyard,  he  said,  "  Parson,  I  thought 


130  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

a  good  deal  about  what  you  said,  indeed  I  did, 
and  it's  true,  every  word  of  it,  you  bet!" 

Martin  was  tried  by  a  court,  and  got  clear. 
But  he  was  fool  enough  to  go  round  the  saloons 
right  away,  boasting  that  he  would  serve  out 
several  more  before  breakfast.  Then  the  vigi 
lantes  got  hold  of  him  that  night,  and  hung  him 
to  the  telegraph-poles  near  Cheyenne,  till  he  was 
dead. 

Sam  Dugan  was  in  our  military  prison  at  Fort 
Eussell,  for  the  crime  of  stealing  horses.  He  was 
released  upon  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  from  Colo 
rado  and  taken  to  Denver,  where  members  of 
the  vigilance  committee  took  him  from  jail  out 
side  the  city  in  an  express-wagon,  and  fastening 
a  rope  around  his  neck,  and  throwing  it  over  a 
limb  of  a  large  cottonwood-tree,  they  hung  him 
up  ;  leaving  the  body  suspended  for  twenty-four 
hours. 

He  confessed  to  have  stolen  many  horses,  and 
to  have  murdered  at  least  six  men  in  his  life  on 
the  plains. 

Most  of  these  hardened  villains  die  as  brave 
men ;  but  Dugan  they  said  whined  like  a  child. 
He  was  really  afraid  to  die,  because  of  his  great 
wickedness. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  131 


AN   INDIAN   FIGHT   AT   SWEETWATER   MINES. 

On  the  morning  of  the  4th  May,  1870,  there 
was  a  desperate  fight  with  two  companies  of  the 
2d  United  States  Cavalry,  under  Major  D.  S. 
Gordon  and  Lieutenant  C.  B.  Stambaugh,  a  god 
child  of  General  Sherman.  The  Indians  had 
committed  some  outrages,  in  return  for  which 
a  party  of  miners  killed  a  chief  named  Black 
Bear,  his  squaw,  and  eleven  other  Indians, 
Arapahoes. 

When  the  principal  chief  of  the  Arapahoes 
heard  of  the  fate  of  Black  Bear  and  his  party, 
he  was  very  angry,  and  called  together  three 
hundred  warriors  (the  tribe  .  only  numbering 
about  fifteen  hundred  souls),  and  marched  for 
Atlantic  City,  a^s  it  is  called  (a  small  town  in  the 
Wind  River  valley).  Two  companies  of  cavalry 
camped  near  the  place  just  before  the  Arapahoe 
.warriors  appeared.  A  young  man  named  Ben 
nett  saw  them  first,  as  he  was  driving  his  mules 
from  the  pasture.  The  Indians  at  once  sur 
rounded  him  and  marched  for  the  town,  to  kill 
him  in  sight  of  the  village,  wrhere  the  troops 
were,  but  not  known  to  the  Indians.  Bennett 
soon  saw  they  were  taking  him  towards  a  gulch 
close  by  the  village  where  Gordon  and  Stambaugh 
were  camped. 

On  coming  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  the  camp 


132  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

was  in  full  view,  and  only  a  few  hundred  yards 
away. 

Bennett  shouted  at  once  for  help,  and,  putting 
out  as  hard  as  he  could,  soon  got  into  camp  safe 
and  sound.  The  sight  of  the  military  astonished 
the  Indians  so  that  they  did  not  try  to  recapture 
Bennett,  but  made  good  time  in  every  direction 
to  escape.  The  soldiers  were  just  getting  up  for 
"  reveille"  when  the  guard  saw  Bennett  coming 
with  the  Indians,  they  driving  arid  whipping 
him  with  their  bows.  The  shout  rang  out, 
"  Indians !  Indians  !"  and  at  once  they  opened 
fire,  officers  and  soldiers  tumbling  out  of  their 
beds.  Some  had  on  their  drawers  only, — some 
in  one  stocking,  and  many  without  boots, — all 
seized  their  arms,  and  rushing  to  the  picket  lines, 
unhitched  their  horses,  jumped  on  with  no  time 
to  saddle,  and  without  hats  galloped  over  the  hills 
in  pursuit  of  the  flying  Indians.  Learning  that 
some  cattle  were  run  off  near  the  town,  some  of 
the  soldiers  galloped  through  the  streets  and  hal 
looing  "  Indians !" — a  cry  the  most  terrible  of  all 
alarms  along  the  border, — soon  brought  every 
man  to  his  feet,  and  gun  in  hand,  rush  out  to 
meet  the  foe.  Soon  these  half-naked  warriors 
had  cleared  the  hills  of  the  red  men,  and  stroll 
ing  home  as  the  sun  rose  over  the  bluffs,  when 
a  horseman  came  into  Major  Gordon's  camp  with 
the  news  that  "Miner's  Delight"  camp  was  at 
tacked,  and  the  teams  of  Mr.  Fleming,  who  was 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  133 

nanling  hay  for  the  government.  Major  Gordon 
taking  Lieutenant  Stambaugh,  Sergeant  Brown, 
and  nine  privates  (all  the  soldiers  in  the  camp), 
and  leaving  orders  for  the  rest  to  follow  as  fast 
as  they  came  in,  they  set  off  for  the  hay-field, 
distant  about  eight  miles.  There  they  saw  none, 
as  the  Indians  had  left,  but  striking  their  trail, 
went  on  as  fast  as  possible.  A  storm  had  been 
gathering  all  the  morning,  and  soon  as  they  had 
gone  six  miles,  it  burst  upon  them  with  terrible 
fury,  completely  covering  up  all  traces  of  the 
enemy.  The  major  thinking  it  useless  to  follow 
further,  set  out  to  return  to  the  post ;  but  he  had 
not  gone  far  before  he  encountered  a  lot  of  about 
sixty  Indians.  The  snow  and  sleet  was  so  blind 
ing  at  the  time,  that  he  did  not  see  them  until 
he  came  close  upon  them.  A  charge  at  once 
was  ordered,  and  the  troops  dashed  forward, 
scattering  the  Indians  in  every  direction.  Un 
fortunately,  however,  in  the  attack  Lieutenant 
Stambaugh  received  a  ball  from  an  Indian's 
pistol,  and  Sergeant  Brown  had  his  jaw  broken 

by   another   shot.      Lieutenant   S ,    though 

wounded,  was  held  on  to  his  horse  by  Major 
Gordon,  until  surrounded  by  an  immense  crowd 
of  desperate  warriors,  when  Gordon  told  Stam 
baugh,  "  For  God's  sake,  hold  on  to  the  mane  of 
your  horse,  as  I  have  to  shoot !" 

Lieutenant  S fell  off  soon  after,  valiantly 

fighting.     He  was  shot  through  the  head  side- 


134  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ways, — from  the  throat  up  through  his  brain, — 
through  the  chest,  arms,  and  hands.  He  was 
brave  to  a  fault,  and  the  Indians  probably 
took  him  for  a  "  brave"  white  chief  of  high 
rank. 

Seeing  these  two  nren  fall  from  their  horses, 
and  that  few  soldiers  were  there,  the  Indians 
rallied  and  charged  them  furiously.  A  severe 
fight  followed  over  the  body  of  Stambaugh,  the 
savages  trying  to  capture  and  scalp  it,  and  the 
soldiers  defending  it  nobly.  Six  Indians  were 
killed  and  two  soldiers  wounded.  Soon  the 
Indians  retreated,  leaving  their  wounded  and 
dead  with  the  soldiers.  The  fight  lasted  about 
two  hours.  All  then  became  quiet,  and  Major 
Gordon  descended  the  ridge, — a  strong  position, 
— and  carrying  the  body  of  Stambaugh  a  piece, 
hid  it  away  in  some  bushes.  Expecting  the 
Indians  would  attack  him  on  the  way,  he  set  out 
for  camp,  the  Indians  having  gone  that  way.  He 
saw  no  more  of  them,  however.  Late  at  night 
with  his  men  he  reached  Atlantic  City,  they 
having  eaten  nothing  since  the  day  before. 

Strange  it  was,  the  reinforcements  he  had  or 
dered  did  not  reach  him,  and  none  knew  where 
they  were.  Of  course  all  the  miners  there  were 
greatly  excited ;  the  events  of  the  day  were  talked 
over,  rockets  thrown  up,  and  fires  kept  burning 
on  the  hills  as  beacons  for  a  guide  to  the  soldiers 
still  out;  but  before  daylight  they  all  came  in, 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  135 

after  having  lost  their  way  in  the  storm  while 
searching  for  Major  Gordon  and  his  party. 

Early  next  morning,  Lieutenant  Dinwiddie 
took  a  strong  detachment  of  troops  and  twenty 
citizens  and  went  out  to  the  scene  of  battle,  and 
taking  up  the  body  of  young  Stambaugh,  marched 
slowly  back  on  their  sad  journey  with  the  noble 
brave  fellow  to  the  camp,  which  should  know  him. 
no  more ! 

INDIAN  ATTACK  ON  THE  STAGE-COACH  GOING  TO 
DENVER— REV.  MR.  FULLER'S  ACCOUNT  OF  TWO 
ATTEMPTS  UPON  HIS  LIFE. 

The  following  letter  tells  its  own  story.  More 
over,  it  is  a  truthful  narrative,  and  shows  to  the 
young  that  a  Christian  man  is  a  bold  man  to  meet 
danger,  knowing  that  God  helps  us,  while  we  use 
all  proper  means  of  safety  to  help  ourselves. 

PITTSBUKO,  May  30th,  1870. 

REV.  E.  B.  TUTTLE,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming  Ter. 

REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, — I  will  try  to  give  you  a 
brief  account  of  my  adventure  with  the  Indians, 
in  answer  to  your  request.  It  was  on  the  1st  day 
of  June,  1867,  the  same  year  that  the  Right  Rev 
erend  Bishop  Tuttle  went  out  to  his  jurisdiction 
(whom  I  met  a  few  days  after  the  adventure  at 
the  North  Platte  Station).  The  scene  of  the  ad 
venture  was  Fairview  Station,  which  was  a 
deserted  ranch  about  ten  miles  east  of  "Fort 


136  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Wicked,"  or  Godfrey's  ranch.  The  station  house 
had  been  burned,  and  the  high  adobe  walls  with 
an  open  front  entrance,  facing  the  road,  were  left 
standing.  About  half-past  two  P.M.  we  stopped 
at  "  Godfrey's"  for  a  change  of  horses  and  re 
freshments.  I  was  the  only  passenger,  and  as  we 
started  on,  the  company  consisted  of  the  driver, 
myself  inside  the  coach,  and  two  horsemen, 
"  stock  leaders"  (employed  by  the  stage  company 
to  transfer  stock  from  one  point  to  another),  four 
in  all.  Unsuspectingly,  we  went  straight  into 
the  Indian's  trap.  It  was  about  four  P.M.  I  sat 
on  the  front  seat  with  my  back  to  the  driver,  the 
windows  being  down.  The  first  thing  that  caught 
my  attention  was  the  discharge  of  a  number  of 
rifles,  some  of  the  balls  crashing  through  the 
sides  of  the  coach. 

The  Indians  were  well  armed  with  rifles,  bows 
and  arrows,  and  were  all  mounted.  Instantly 
I  seized  my  revolver  (a  small  six-shooter),  and 
made  ready  to  defend  myself.  I  saw  the  two 
horsemen  wheel  their  horses  and  start  back 
towards  "  Godfrey's"  Station.  They  were  just  a 
little  behind  the  coach.  The  driver  also  yelled 
at  his  horses  and  gave  them  a  short  turn,  for  the 
same  purpose,  no  doubt.  While  we  were  turn 
ing  round,  a  tall  Indian  rode  up  close  to  the 
coach-window  and  looked  in,  and  as  Be  did  so  I 
looked  out;  our  faces  met  only  about  six  feet 
apart.  He  had  a  rifle  in  one  hand;  I  saw  him 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  137 

drop  his  rein  and  grasp  bis  gun  with  both  hands. 
I  heard  the  click  of  the  trigger.  I  could  easily 
have  shot  him,  having  my  revolver  in  my  hand, 
but  I  did  not, — why  I  do  not  know.  It  was  well 
that  I  did  not,  as  it  proved.  I  dropped  under  the 
coach-window  to  avoid  his  tire,  if  possible.  He 
fired  and  rode  on  quickly  ahead,  his  shot  being 
delivered  either  at  the  driver  or  myself,  I  know 
not  which.  The  horses  and  coach  were  now 
turned  about  and  faced  towards  "  Godfrey's,'' 
and  were  running  as  only  thoroughly  frightened 
horses  will  run.  They  were  large,  powerful 
animals,  four  in  number.  The  Indians  had  mean 
time  divided  themselves  into  two  bodies.  (There 
were  about  thirty  of  them  in  all,  of  the  Chey 
enne  tribe.  I  will  shortly  state  how  they  were 
numbered.)  One  party  starting  in  pursuit  of  the 
horsemen,  and  the  other  remaining  with  the 
coach  to  take  it. 

The  situation  was  most  critical.  I  soon  saw 
that  the  horses  did  not  keep  the  road,  but  turned 
out  of  it  towards  the  Platte  River  (the  river  and 
the  road  run  parallel  about  half  a  mile  apart, 
as  you  probably  know),  and  I  knew  that  the 
driver  was  not  guiding  them  I  Putting  my  revolver 
in  my  side-pocket,  I  opened  the  door  and,  taking 
hold  of  the  railing  above,  looked  first  to  see  if 
the  driver  was  indeed  gone.  He  was  not  there  ! 
I  did  not  turn  back;  to  stay  inside  was  sure  death. 
If  there  was  any  chance  of  escape,  it  was  from 


138  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

the  outside.  I  sprang  out  to  the  driver's  seat 
above,  but  judge  of  my  dismay  to  find  the  reins  on 
the  ground!  I  intended  to  get  control  of  them. 
I  knew  not  what  to  do,  but  had  an  idea  at  first 
of  jumping  to  the  ground  to  get  the  reins. 
While  standing  there  thinking  how  to  manage 
to  get  the  reins,  I  was  the  only  mark  for  the 
Indians,  and  was  fired  at  a  number  of  times. 
Such  was  the  situation,  standing  alone  on  the 
coach-box, — the  Indians  before  and  behind  en 
deavoring  to  shoot  me  and  to  stop  the  coach, — 
and  yet  I  escaped.  I  have  yet  the  coat,  with  a 
bullet-hole  in  the  sleeve,  which  I  had  on.  My 
escape  was  in  this  wi-e  :  I  saw  that  the  reins 
might  be  reached  from  the  headstalls  of  the 
wheel-horses.  I  therefore  sprang  down  on  to 
the  tongue  of  the  coach  to  get  them,  but  just 
then  the  horses  had  reached  a  slough  about  two 
rods  wide  and  as  many  feet  deep,  with  a  sharp 
bank  on  either  side.  They  did  not  stop,  but 
plunged  into  and  across  it.  I  fell  fortunately 
over  the  nigh  horse's  back,  just  clearing  the 
wheels.  The  horses  and  coach  went  on  and  I 
was  left  in  the  slough.  That  fall  to  me  at  the 
time  appeared  sure  death.  I  expected  to  be 
killed  instantly.  But,  sooner  than  I  can  tell  it, 
I  was  upon  my  feet  upon  the  bank,  my  revolver 
in  my  hand,  determined  not  to  be  taken  alive; 
for  well  enough  I  knew  what  that  would  end  in. 
To  my  astonishment,  the  Indians  did  not  stop  to 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  139 

give  me  a  shot  even ;  being  under  a  full  run, 
they  barely  glanced  at  me  as  they  passed  in  pur 
suit  of  the  coach.  I  saw  the  reason  of  this.  I 
was  on  foot,  and  between  me  and  "  Godfrey's" 
was  another  body  of  Indians.  They  were  all 
mounted  and  armed ;  I  could  not  run  away ;  I 
was  in  a  vice  apparently. 

I  looked  towards  the  river,  and  observing  some 
islands  in  it,  my  plan  was  instantly  formed.  If 
I  could  only  reach  the  river,  I  would  swim  out 
and  get  behind  one  of  the  islands.  And  the 
river  being  high  and  turbid,  with  a  quicksand 
bottom,  I  did  not  believe  they  would  venture  to 
come  after  me.  (I  had  learned  to  swim  when  a 
boy,  and  that  now  was  my  means  of  salvation.) 
I  started  for  the  river  as  soon  as  the  last  Indian 
had  passed  me,  "  double  quick,"  but  as  I  started, 
I  glanced  towards  the  west,  and,  to  my  dismay, 
saw  the  other  party  coming  ba*ck  at  a  distance 
of  four  or  five  hundred  rods  from  me,  and  I  had 
at  least  two  hundred  rods  to  make  to  reach  the 
river.  They  had  got  through  with  their  chase 
of  the  two  men.  They  had  killed  one  of  them 
and  also  his  horse  (I  buried  his  body  the  next 
day).  The  other  man  being  mounted  on  a  trained 
racer,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  managed  by  hard 
running  to  escape  and  reach  the  station. 

At  a  certain  angle  bearing  back  towards  "  God 
frey's,"  I  started  for  the  river,  and  the  Indiana 
turned  to  run  in  between  me  and  the  river. 


140  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

But  Providence  interposed  again.  Within  one 
minute  from  the  time  of  my  fall,  the  Indiana 
stopped  the  coach,  shooting  one  of  the  horses  to 
do  it;  and  this  drew  the  attention  of  the  other 
party  away  from  me  to  the  coach,  being  drawn 
(I  suppose)  by  motives  of  plunder  on  seeing  the 
coach  stopped.  I  have  since  learned  that  they 
do  not  divide  the  plunder  in  any  civilized  way, 
but  what  an  Indian  gets  his  hands  on  is  his. 
But  for  this  circumstance,  they  must  have  got 
between  me  and  the  river.  Finding  that  I  had 
actually  gained  the  river-bank,  I  determined  not 
to  go  in  at  once,  but  the  rather  to  get  as  far  away 
as  possible,  while  the  Indians  were  engaged  in 
plundering  the  coach,  knowing  it  would  take 
them  some  minutes  to  do  that.  I  had  no  hope 
of  running  away,  but  slipping  off  my  boots,  I 
began  a  rapid  walk  up  the  river-bank,  all  the 
while  glancing  back  at  the  Indians,  expecting 
momentarily  that  the}'  would  start  for  me.  Thus 
I  got  nearly  a  mile  away,  when  I  noticed  two 
men  in  the  road,  a  little  ahead  of  me.  I  stopped 
as  soon  as  I  saw  them,  feeling  sure  that  they 
were  Indians  who  had  been  sent  to  that  point  to 
prevent  my  escape.  As  I  stopped,  they  made 
signs  for  me  to  come  to  them ;  but  this  I  took 
to  be  a  decoy,  under  a  pretense  of  friendship,  to 
get  me  away  from  the  river.  Instantly  divesting 
myself  of  my  outer  clothing,  I  plunged  in,  see 
ing  them  start  for  me  as  I  did  so,  at  a  full  run. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  141 

There  were  no  islands  there,  and  to  get  away,  I 
must  make  the  other  side.  The  water  was  very 
cold,  the  current  strong,  and  I  soon  became 
chilled.  I  found  my  strength  going  fast,  and 
gave  up  my  last  hope  of  escape.  I  would  have 
gone  under  hut  for  another  interposition  of 
Providence.  I  drifted  on  to  a  sand  bar,  and  stop 
ping  there,  I  expected  to  die.  I  did  not  wait 
long.  In  a  brief  time  the  two  men  had  reached 
the  river-bank  opposite  me,  and  judge  of  my 
joy,  dear  sir,  to  see  the  uniform  of  United  States 
cavalry  soldiers  ! 

They  had  been  sent  out  (from  Fort  Morgan) 
two  days  previous  to  search  for  some  deserters. 
They  happened  to  come  upon  the  ground  just 
then,  else  I  should  not  be  writing  you  this  ac 
count  to-day.  They  saw  the  whole  affray  from 
the  outset,  but  did  not  dare  to  attack.  They 
counted  the  Indians  and  said  there  were  about 
thirty  of  them.  Now,  when  I  started  for  the 
river,  after  the  fall,  they  agreed  to  assist  me  if 
they  could.  Fortunately  I  did  not  go  in  imme 
diately  on  reaching  the  river,  but  went  towards 
them  without  knowing  of  their  presence.  When 
I  went  into  the  river  finally,  they  Understood 
that  I  mistook  them  for  Indians,  and  made  a  dash 
to  save  me.  God  bless  them !  In  doing  that 
they  put  themselves  in  danger.  I  saw  this  and 
spoke  of  it,  but  they  said  they  intended  to  give 
the  "red  devils"  to  understand  thus  that  they 


142  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

were  supported  by  others.  Their  strategy  had 
precisely  that  effect.  I  looked  towards  the 
Indians,  and  they  were  making  off  in  the  other 
direction  towards  "  the  bluffs,''  as  fast  as  they 
could  go.  We  went  safely  back  to  "  Godfrey's," 
one  of  the  soldiers  kindly  giving  me  his  horse  to 
ride.  I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  reward  in 
some  substantial  way  these  noble  young  men. 
After  saluting  me  from  the  river-bank,  I  swam 
and  waded  back  to  the  shore.  It  was  with  diffi 
culty  that  I  could  stand  when  I  reached  it.  My 
coat  was  stained  with  patches  of  blood.  The 
soldiers  at  first  were  sure  that  I  was  wounded, 
but  strange  to  say,  I  was  not  hurt.  The  blood 
was  from  the  driver,  and  got  upon  my  coat  from 
the  coach-box. 

I  lost  my  baggage,  several  hundred  dollars 
of  goods  and  money  captured  by  the  Indians. 
Stopping  two  days  at  "  Godfrey's,"  with  a  force 
of  eighteen  men  well  armed,  in  three  coaches 
bound  east,  we  started  on  again.  Godfrey,  who 
has  a  mortal  hatred  of  Indians,  treated  me  with 
great  kindness.  This,  dear  sir,  was  my  marvel 
ous  escape.  Bishop  Randall  writing  me  after 
wards  about  it,  said  that  it  seemed  to  him  but 
little  short  of  a  miracle.  Bishop  Tattle  also  ex 
pressed  the  same  view.  The  fall  from  the  tongue 
of  the  coach,  the  stopping  of  the  coach  just  in 
time  to  call  off  the  party  that  were  getting  be 
tween  me  and  the  river,  the  sand  bar  in  the 


BISHOP  CLARKSON  CONFIRMING  CONVERTED  INDIANS  IN 
NEBRASKA  AND  DAKOTA. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  143 

river,  on  which  I  rested  in  the  last  extreme,  and 
finally,  the  singular  appearance  of  the  soldiers  to 
deliver  me,  are  plain  indications  that  it  was  the 
will  of  God  that  I  should  be  spared. 
Truly  yours, 

WM.  A.  FULLER. 


CHAPLAIN   WHITE    SAYS    THERE'S   A    TIME    TO    PRAY 
AND   A   TIME   TO    FIGHT. 

In  July  of  the  same  year  as  the  massacre  at 
Phil.  Kearney,  that  is  to  say  on  the  20th  July, 
while  Chaplain  White  was  traveling  on  Powder 
River  with  Captain  Templeton,  Lieutenant  Dan 
iels,  Lieutenant  Wanns,  and  J.  H.  Bradley,  in 
company  with  five  white  women  and  two  colored 
also,  going  to  join  their  command,  and  while 
quietly  traveling  along,  about  fifty  to  sixty  wild 
Indians  came  suddenly  upon  them  just  as  they 
approached  "  Crazy  Woman's  Fork  River."  At 
once  there  was  a  panic,  and  one  of  the  officers 
suddenly  put  on  a  woman's  bonnet  and  rode  off. 
One  woman  had  a  babe.  The  chaplain,  seeing 
all  was  confusion,  and  each  one  for  himself,  ex 
claimed,  "For  God's  sake,  don't  leave  these 
women  to  be  murdered !"  This  seemed  to  call 
them  to  their  senses,  and  they  began  to  rally, 
though,  all  told,  there  were  but  thirteen  armed 
men.  One  soldier,  a  German,  got  terribly  fright 
ened,  and  said,  "Isn't  there  sow,e  one  to  pray  ?"  The 


144  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

chaplain  seized  him  by  the  collar  and  bid  him 
hold  his  gun,  saying,  "  There  is  a  time  to  pray  and 
a  time  to  fight!"  By  nightfall  they  had  all  disap 
peared.  Lieutenant  Bradley  was  very  coura 
geous;  for  when  the  Indians  shot  their  arrows,  he 
would  stoop  down  and  pick  them  up  in  derision. 

Chaplains  may  be  sometimes  of  little  account, 
but  if  their  record  could  be  written  up,  a  large 
number  would  be  found  to  have  done  noble 
service  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion. 

Chaplain  John  McNamara,  of  the  1st  Wiscon 
sin  Eegiment,  was  one  of  them.  I  learned  the 
following  anecdote  from  a  soldier  who  died  in 
Camp  Douglas : 

Private  Auchmuty  said,  "  We  had  marched 
for  a  whole  year,  and  had  never  a  battle.  Like 
all  soldiers,  we  grumbled  a  good  deal,  and  found 
fault  with  our  rations.  Our  chaplain  preached  a 
sermon  about  our  being  discontented,  saying  we 
4  had  done  nothing  at  all  for  the  government, 
only  to  soldier  a  little,  and  eat  our  rations.5  This 
made  us  a  little  angry,  and  so  we  took  it  out  in 
calling  as  he  passed,  <  There  goes  the  chaplain  that 
eats  his  rations  /' 

"  But  by-and-by  we  had  a  sharp  and  bloody 
fight  at  Stone  River.  Colonel  B.  J.  Sweet  was 
badly  wounded  in  his  right  arm,  and  our  captain 
was  killed.  This  made  us  waver  and  fall  back. 
But  the  chaplain  rushed  forward  to  lead  us,  ex 
claiming,  '  Boys,  come  on  !  The  enemy  is  wav- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  145 

ering ;  we  are  sure  of  a  victory  !'  On  we  rushed 
after  him,  and  drove  the  foe  off  the  field.  After 
that  we  called  him  the  'Bully  chaplain.'  He 
lost  his  wig,  but  he  gained  the  victory." 


LEGEND    OF   "  CRAZY   WOMAN'S    FORK." 

The  Absarakas,  or  Crow  nation,  have  the  repu 
tation  of  being  good  friends  to  the  whites,  and  it 
is  also  said  they  have  never  warred  with  them. 

Iron  Bull,  a  renowned  chief  of  the  Crows,  re 
lates  the  following  legend. 

In  the  journey  through  that  most  delightful 
region  of  Montana  from  Fort  Phil.  Kearney  to 
Fort  C.  F.  Smith  (in  the  Powder  Kiver  country), 
one  of  the  most  favored  camping-grounds  is  the 
one  called  "  Crazy  Woman's  Fork,"  the  name  of 
a  pretty  little  stream  of  water  that  rises  in  the 
Big  Horn  Mountains,  and  emptying  into  the 
Little  Horn  River.  About  three  miles  from  the 
mountains  this  stream  crosses  the  trail  between 
the  two  military  posts  mentioned. 

This  camp  on  the  Fork  is  noted  for  its  danger 
from  Indian  attacks,  as  an  abundant  supply  of 
game  being  found  in  the  valley,  brings  the 
Indian  there  to  replenish  his  larder  of  wild 
meat.  Notwithstanding  the  dangers  attending  a 
journey  through  this  region,  it  has  its  attractions 
in  the  beautiful  and  diversified  views  of  lovely 

N  10 


146  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

scenery,  which  hasten  the  parties  traveling  that 
region  to  encamp,  for  a  night  at  least,  on  the 
banks  of  a  limpid  stream  that  refreshes  man  and 
beast  from  an  unfailing  source  in  the  mountains. 
The  banks  are  skirted  with  cottonwood-trees,  and 
to  the  west,  one  sees  the  tall  spurs  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  rising  up,  as  it  were,  from  your  feet, 
their  dizzy  heights  covered  with  snow ;  while  the 
haze  that  surrounds  them  gives  to  them  a  halo 
of  glory  and  weirdlike  appearance,  that  the  im 
aginative  might  compare  to  the  garments  that 
mantle  the  spirits  of  the  blessed,  in  Paradise  ! 

Iron  Bull  said  that  about  two  hundred  years 
ago,  when  the  moon  shone  brighter,  and  there 
were  more  stars,  his  nation"  was  a  great  people, 
and  they  roamed  over  all  that  country  from  the 
Missouri  River  to  the  west  of  the  Yellowstone, 
and  no  dog  of  a  Sioux  dare  show  himself  there. 
But  the  people  had  been  wicked,  and  the  Great 
Spirit  had  darkened  the  heavens  and  made  the 
sun  to  shine  with  such  heat  that  the  streams 
were  dried  up,  and  the  snow  disappeared  from 
the  highest  peaks  of  the  mountains.  The  buffalo, 
the  elk,  the  mountain  sheep,  the  deer,  and  the 
rabbit,  all  disappeared  and  died  away,  bringing 
a  great  famine  upon  his  tribe,  and  the  spirit  of 
the  air  breathed  death  into  the  lodges,  so  that 
the  warrior  saw  his  squaw  and  papooses  die  for 
want  of  the  food,  he  could  not  find  on  all  the 
plain,  or  on  the  mountain-sides;  so  that  the 


ABOUT  INDIANS. 


147 


whole  nation  grieved  and  mourned  in  sorrow  of 
heart. 

Still,  they  kept  up  their  wars  with  the  Sioux, 
and  fought  many  a  bloody  battle  with  them 
when  they  suffered  most,  and  the  game  had  en 
tirely  disappeared.  Their  great  medicine-man 
called  a  council,  and  when  the  head-men  bad 
assembled,  he  told  them  of  a  wonderful  dream 
that  he  had  had,  when  he  was  bidden  by  the 
Great  Spirit  to  gather  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe  at 
the  fork  of  the  stream  where  they  lived. 

Their  ponies  had  all  been  eaten  for  food,  so 
the  proud  Indians  were  compelled  to  make  the 
journey  on  foot  to  the  place  of  meeting. 

But  when  they  had  arrived  at  the  bluffs,  on 
the  edge  of  the  valley,  they  were  surprised  to  see 
a  bountiful  supper  spread  on  the  bank  of  the 
stream,  close  by  the  Forks,  and  a  white  woman 
close  by,  standing  up  and  making  signs  to  them 
to  descend  from  the  bluffs. 

Having  never  before  seen  a  "  white  squaw," 
they  were  greatly  astonished.  The  medicine 
man  descended  to  the  valley.  The  white  woman 
told  him  that  the  Great  Spirit  would  talk  to  the 
council  through  her.  She  told  him  that  the  wars 
of  the  tribe  were  displeasing  to  the  Great  Spirit, 
and  they  must  make  peace  with  the  Sioux  nation. 
When  that  was  done,  the  great  chief,  "  The-Bear- 
that-grabs,"  must  return  to  her. 

They  sent  out  runners  to  the  Sioux^and  peace 


148  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

was  declared  between  the  tribes  for  the  first  time 
in  one  hundred  years. 

She  then  told  the  great  chief  to  follow  the 
mountain  in  a  westerly  course,  until  he  came  to 
the  Big  Horn  River,  and  where  the  rock  was 
perpendicular,  he  was  to  shoot  three  arrows,  kilting 
the  rock  each  time. 

The  chief  departed  on  his  mission,  and  as  he 
gained  the  bluffs  from  the  stream,  he  looked  back 
at  the  white  squaw,  but  what  was  his  surprise 
when  he  saw  her  rising  in  the  air  and  floating 
towards  the  mountains  !  He  watched  her  until 
she  disappeared  over  the  highest  peak  towards  the 
sky. 

The  chief  pursued  his  journey,  and,  arriving 
at  the  place  told  him  by  the  white  squaw,  he  dis 
charged  his  arrows.  The  first  one  struck  in 

O 

rock.  The  second  flew  over  the  mountain. 
The  third  was  discharged,  and  a  terrible  noise 
followed:  the  heavens  were  aglow  with  light 
ning;  the  thunder  shook  the  mountains.  The 
earth  trembled,  and  the  rocks  were  rent  asunder, 
and  out  of  the  fissure  countless  herds  of  buffalo 
came,  filling  the  valleys  and  the  hills.  The 
hearts  of  the  Indians  were  glad,  and  they  ate 
and  were  merry,  and  returned  thanks  to  the 
Great  Spirit  and  to  the  good  white  woman. 

The  great  fissure  in  the  rocks  is  the  canon  of 
the  Big  Horn  Iliver. 

Iron  Bull  avers  that  when  anything  of  note  is 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  149 

about  to  befall  the  tribe,  the  image  of  the  white 
woman  can  be  seen  hovering  over  the  peak  of  the 
mountain  at  a  Crazy  Woman's  Fork."  He  says 
the  Crows  have  never  killed  any  of  the  whites, 
and  his  people  say  and  believe  "  that  they  are 
treated  by  the  government  agents  worse  than  the 
tribes  who  give  us  all  the  trouble." 

In  other  words,  because  they  are  peaceable, 
we  need  not,  as  with  others,  to  buy  them  off  with 
presents.  And  they  say  we  have  taken  some  of 
their  lands  and  given  them  to  the  Sioux,  who 
were  fighting  and  destroying  the  whites  as  often 
as  they  could. 

PHIL.    KEARNEY   MASSACRE. 

One  of  the  most  fearful  and  fatal  massacres 
on  the  plains  that  is  known,  occurred  in  the 
forenoon  of  December  21st,  1866,  at  Fort  Phil. 
Kearney,  Dakota. 

About  nine  o'clock,  some  Indians,  a  few  only 
(as  usual),  were  seen  on  the  bluffs.  Brevet 
General  Carrington,  Colonel  of  the  18th  United 
States  Infantry,  in  command  of  the  post,  sent 
out  eighty-one  men,  one  company  of  infantry, 
and  one  of  2d  Cavalry,  Company  C,  under  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Fetterman.  The  instructions, 
it  is  said,  were  not  to  go  over  the  hills.  However 
that  ma}7  be,  they  pursued  the  hostile  Indians 
beyond  sight  of  the  post,  crossing  the  river  near 
the  fort  to  do  so.  At  ten  o'clock  the  fight  be- 

N* 


150  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

gaii,  the  firing  being  beard  plainly  at  the  post. 
There  were  from  fifteen  hundred  to  twenty -five 
hundred  Sioux,  under  chief  lied  Leaf. 

The  soldiers  were  led  into  an  ambuscade,  and 
having  shot  away  all  their  ammunition  in  a 
panic,  were  surrounded  and  massacred  before 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Sixteen  Indians 
were  killed,  and  chief  Spider  among  them.  The 
bodies  of  the  soldiers  were  horribly  mutilated 
and  scalped.  Why  reinforcements  were  not  sent 
out  to  help  them  out  of  their  perilous  condition 
does  not  appear.  Colonel  Fetterman  was  killed, 
a  noble,  brave  man,  and  the  fort  next  above 
"  Laramie"  was  named  after  him.  This  is  an 
eyesore  to  Red  Cloud,  and  he  requested  the 
President  to  have  it  removed,  as  of  no  use,  he 
said,  and  costing  the  government  a  great  deal  of 
money.  His  wish  was  not  gratified. 

MAUVAJSES  TERRES,  OK  BAD  LANDS,  DAKOTA. 

Up  in  the  Indian  country,  in  Dakota,  near  White 
River,  as  one  travels  over  a  prairie  country,  one 
comes  suddenly  upon  a  valley,  down  between 
one  and  two  hundred  feet,  which  is  at  least 
thirty  miles  wide,  by  ninety  in  length.  It  looks 
as  though  it  had  sunk  down  below  all  the  country 
round;  while  standing  like  sentinels  all  around, 
one  sees  pillars  of  immense  height,  of  irregular 
prismatic  columns  of  masses  of  stone,  stretching 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  151 

up  to  the  height  of  from  one  to  two  hundred  feet 
or  more.  It  reminds  one  of  the  ruins  of  Pompeii 
(described  by  Bulwer)  as  the  traveler  wends  his 
way  through  deep  passages,  amidst  petrified 
snakes,  turtles,  and  mammoth  animals,  which 
must  have  been  larger  than  elephants.  Turtles 
weighing  a  thousand  pounds,  petrified,  lie  around, 
and  all  over  is  strewn  the  remains  of  extinct 
animals  in  this  vast  charnel-house. 

Professor  Leidy,  of  Philadelphia,  has  detected 
about  thirty  remains  of  species  of  extinct  mam 
malia.  Many  of  these  belonged  to  animals  such 
as  the  hippopotamus,  rhinoceros,  tapir,  etc.  One 
extinct  animal,  called  the  Oreodon,  had  grind 
ing  teeth  like  lions,  cats,  etc.,  and  must  have 
belonged  to  a  race  that  lived  on  vegetables 
and  flesh,  and  yet  chewed  the  cud  like  a  cow. 
Another  called  the  Machairodus,  was  wholly 
carnivorous,  and  combined  the  size  and  weight 
of  the  grizzly  bear  with  the  jaws  and  teeth  of 
the  Bengal  tiger.  Most  of  the  bones  are  yet  in 
good  preservation  and  highly  mineralized.  Dr. 
Owen  says  he  saw  all  the  bones  of  a  skeleton 
eighteen  feet  long  and  nine  in  height;  also  a 
jaw  of  a  similar  animal,  which  measured  five 
i'eet  along  the  range  of  its  teeth.  At  one  place 
there  is  a  valley  which  has  the  appearance  of  a 
floor  of  an  ancient  lake,  where  turtles  lie  im 
bedded  by  hundreds,  and  some  weighing  a  ton. 
This  wonderful  place  looks  like  the  city  of  the 


152  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

dead  ;  and  as  nothing  grows  there,  and  there  is 
no  water  for  animals,  no  living  thing  is  found 
there,  not  even  a  bird.  General  Sully  made  a 
forced  march  through  it  with  cavalry  a  few  years 
ago,  and  had  to  carry  water  for  the  men  and 
horses.  The  Indians  never  go  there,  unless 
driven  in  by  some  tribe  attacking  in  superior 
numbers.  The  fossils  which  have  been  brought 
from  the  Mauvaises  Terres  belong  to  a  species  that 
became  extinct  before  the  period  when  the  Mas 
todon  inhabited  this  country.  The  strata  in 
which  these  animals  are  imbedded  indicate  that 
the  water  was  fresh  or  brackish.  It  is  the  most 
desolate  and  barren  prospect  one  could  lay  his 
eyes  on  ;  and  if  the  place  for  bad  people  is  like 
this,  when  they  come  to  die,  may  no  boy  have  to 
go  there  and  be  frightened  all  his  life-long  for 
his  wicked  and  cruel  deeds  to  others,  or  to 
animals  either ;  for  the  sight  of  these  skeletons 
is  enough  to  make  any  boy  afraid  of  disobeying 
his  mother,  or  to  go  to  sleep  any  night  without 
being  sorry  for  his  sins. 

Gold  is  said  to  be  deposited  there,  and  may 
yet  be  found  in  large  quantities,  if  the  Indians 
can  be  induced  to  let  the  whites  prospect  there. 
Awhile  since,  an  Indian  brought  into  a  fort  some 
gold-dust  and  a  large  nugget.  The  post-trader 
looked  at  it  and  pretended  it  was  iron,  saying 
to  the  Indian,  "  No  good."  He  threw  it  out  of 
the  window  and  gave  the  Indian  a  glass  of 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  153 

whisky.  When  he  went  out,  the  tradet  picked 
it  up,  and  it  was  worth  thirty  dollars.  The  Indian 
having  refused  to  tell  where  he  got  it,  was  made 
quite  drunk,  and  then  he  said  it  came  from  the 
Bad  Lands ;  but  if  the  chief  found  out  he  had 
told  of  it,  he  would  kill  him. 


NATURAL   HISTORY — ANIMALS    ON   THE    PLAINS. 

The  animals  which  are  found  west  of  the  Mis 
souri  River,  especially  in  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  far  beyond  them,  are  the  buffalo,  elk,  deer, 
cimarron  bear,  mountain  sheep,  antelope,  co 
yote,  prairie-dog,  etc. 

The  buffalo,  which  affords  good  beef  to  the 
Indian  hunters,  and  has  fed  many  thousand 
toilers  over  the  plains  to  Salt  Lake  and  Cali 
fornia,  is  mainly  known  to  boys  in  the  comfort 
able  buffalo  robes,  which  every  one  knows  the 
use  of  in  sleigh-riding.  But  to  us  officers  and 
soldiers  on  the  plains  they  are  life-preservers 
almost,  in  our  sleeping  out  nights  on  the  ground, 
far  away  from  home  and  good  beds  and  blankets. 

The  buffalo  meat  is  tough,  unless  from  a  young 
cow;  and  the  Indians  make  little  difference  in 
drying  it  for  winter  use,  as  they  have  good  teeth 
and  always  a  first-rate  appetite.  The  skins  are 
dried  and  tanned  by  the  squaws,  who  lay  them 
on  the  grass ;  and  I  saw  an  old  gray-haired  squaw 
toiling  away  with  a  sharp  instrument,  made  of 


154  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

the  end  of  a  gun-barrel,  something  like  a  carpen- 
ter'sgouge,  and  this  had  abone  handle,  with  which 
she  kept  scraping  off  the  inside  of  the  skin  of  its 
fibres,  so  as  to  make  it  soft  and  pliable.  She  had  a 
stone  to  sharpen  the  tool  with,  and  as  she  leaned 
over,  tugging  away,  the  perspiration  rolled  off  her 
face  in  streams.  Poor  old  creature,  I  felt  sorry  for 
her,  as  the  work  might  have  been  done  by  several 
big,  lazy,  half-grown  Indian  boys  I  saw  romping 
around  and  shooting  their  arrows  at  a  mark. 
But  it  is  disgraceful  for  the  lords  of  creation  to 
labor,  so  they  only  kill  the  game,  and  leave  the 
squaws  to  cure  and  prepare  it  for  eating. 

It  is  astonishing  how  poorly  Indians  are  com 
pensated  for  their  robes  and  furs.  In  Colorado, 
some  Indians  had  been  very  successful  in  killing 
buffaloes,  had  plenty  of  meat,  and  purchased  with 
their  robes  flour,  sugar,  coffee,  dry-goods,  and 
trinkets  from  the  white  and  Mexican  traders;  but 
they  did  not  realize  one-fourth  their  value.  They 
were  worth  eight  or  nine  dollars  by  the  bale  at 
wholesale.  The  traders  paid  seventy-five  cents  in 
brass  wire  or  other  trinkets  for  a  robe ;  two  dol 
lars  in  groceries,  and  less  in  goods.  Six  tribes, 
in  1864,  furnished  at  least  fifteen  thousand  robes, 
which,  at  eight  dollars,  would  amount  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The 
traders  literally  swindled  the  poor  Indians.  They 
will  give  the  robe  off  their  backs  for  a  bottle  of  whisky 
on  the  coldest  day. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  155 

The  cimarron  bear  is  avoided  by  the  soldiers, 
if  possible,  when  met  by  them.  Up  in  the  Wind 
River  country,  a  soldier  was  mauled  terribly  by 
one  which  he  had  wounded,  but  failed  to  kill  en 
the  first  fire.  The  fight  was  desperate,  for  the 
bear,  said  to  have  been  six  or  seven  feet  long, 
and  weighing  nine  hundred  pounds,  had  clinched 
the  soldier,  and  both  rolled  down  the  ravine  to 
gether,  the  other  soldiers  afraid  to  fire  lest  they 
should  hit  the  poor  comrade,  almost  in  the  jaws 
of  death.  They  did  rescue  him,  however,  by 
lunging  a  knife  into  bruin's  side,  compelling 
him  to  release  his  hold,  after  lacerating  the  sol 
dier's  arm  and  side. 

The  coyote  is  a  kind  of  wolf  that  preys  on  the 
antelope.  It  is  a  mean,  sneaking  thief,  too  mean 
to  attack  a  herd  of  antelopes,  but  follows  them 
up,  and  while  one  strays  off,  grazing,  watches  the 
opportunity  to  spring  upon  his  victim,  run  him 
down,  and  snap  the  hamstring  of  poor  antelope, 
and  then  eats  him. 

One  night  1  was  woke  up  at  Port  Sedgwick, 
thinking  I  heard  wild  geese  flying  over.  But  I 
learned  it  was  a  drove  of  coyotes,  which  came 
over  the  bluffs,  into  and  through  the  fort  nightly, 
to  eat  the  refuse  meat  outside,  where  beef  was 
slaughtered.  They  prowl  about,  and  sometimes 
make  a  noise  like  a  lot  of  school-children  halloo 
ing  at  play.  They  never  bite,  unless  attacked. 
An  old  lady  got  lost  about  a  mile  outside  the  post, 


156  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

at  Russell,  in  the  winter.  She  started  out  of 
Cheyenne,  one  Monday  afternoon,  to  search  for 
an  emigrant  train  which  might  be  going  to  Mon 
tana,  where  she  had  a  son  living. 

She  strayed  away  and  was  found  in  a  snow 
bank,  by  some  soldiers  going  out  to  dig  a  grave. 
She  \vas  glad  to  see  the  faces  of  white  men,  for 
it  was  on  Friday,  and  she  had  thus  been  out,  wan 
dering  around  since  Monday,  four  days  !  She 
was  brought  into  the  hospital  and  given  a  warm 
cup  of  tea.  "Dear  me,"  she  exclaimed,  "give 
me  a  quart, — I'm  almost  famished  !"  She  said 
she  was  only  frightened  by  the  coyotes  coming 
round  nights  and  barking  at  her.  Her  feet  were 
partly  frozen,  but  in  a  few  weeks  she  went  on  to 
Montana. 

The  black-tailed  deer  are  fine  eating;  the  grass 
on  which  they  feed  in  the  mountains  is  said  to 
make  the  meat  tender  and  sweet. 

The  mountain  sheep  are  large  and  very  strong ; 
they  will  throw  themselves  from  a  rocky  cliff'  and 
strike  on  their  head  many  feet  below  unharmed, 
being  protected  by  horns  and  stout  necks.  They 
are  larger  than  our  domestic  sheep. 

The  antelope  is  a  pretty,  gazelle-like  creature, 
fleet  and  agile  in  springing  up  and  running. 
Having  passed  over  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
many  times,  it  has  been  rny  pleasure  to  see  them 
running  away  from  the  train  in  droves  of  a  dozen 
or  more,  in  file  one  after  the  other,  till  out  of 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  157 

sight,  far  away  over  the  bluffs.  By-and-by  they 
will  disappear  as  the  buffalo  have,  driven  away 
by  approaching  civilization.  The  young  are 
easily  caught  and  tamed,  and  make  nice  pets  for 
children.  The  cost  of  one  here  is  usually  five 
dollars.  They  are  hunted  a  good  deal  for  their 
meat,  as  antelopes  are  tender  and  sweet  to  the 
palate.  One  method  in  hunting  them  is  to  raise 
a  white  or  red  flag,  and  the  silly  creatures,  full 
of  curiosity,  will  turn  and  walk  towards  it  till 
shot  down  by  the  marksman. 

The  prairie  dog  is  an  animal  peculiar  to  the 
plains.  He  is  found  in  what  is  called  a  "  dog- 
town  ;"  being  a  plot  of  a  few  acres,  as  seen  along 
side  the  railroad,  after  a  day  and  night's  ride, 
dotted  over  with  mounds  a  foot  or  so  high. 
Sometimes  a  thousand  or  more  congregate  in  the 
town,  and  their  holes  are  a  few  rods  apart. 
When  approaching  these  towns,  or  the  cars  pass 
along,  you  see  them  scamper  off  to  the  top  of  the 
mound,  stand  up  on  their  hind-legs  and  bark, 
shaking  their  little  short  tails  at  each  bark,  and 
presently  plunge  head  first  into  their  holes. 
They  are  of  a  brown  color,  size  of  a  squirrel, 
but  with  tails  an  inch  long.  I  tried  to  drown 
out  some,  and  poured  several  barrels  of  water 
into  a  hole  without  bringing  any  out.  These 
holes  ramify  into  others,  generally,  so  it  was  im 
possible,  in  my  experience,  though  others  do  get 
hold  of  a  single  hole,  and  drown  them  out. 


158  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Rattlesnakes  and  small  owls  make  their  homes 
with  them.  These  are  interlopers,  as  the  prairie- 
dogs  dig  the  holes  down  about  three  to  four  feet. 
They  can  be  tamed,  as  I  know  by  experience, 
having  carried  several  east  to  Chicago,  to  my 
Sunday-school  children. 

One  night  in  Colorado,  on  the  Cache  lePoudre 
River,  while  camping  out  there  (having  gone  with 
a  detective  in  search  of  horse-thieves),  I  heard  a 
terrible  clatter  among  the  prairie-dogs  late  in  the 
night.  It  was  explained  to  me  by  the  ranch, 
man,  who  said  they  were  in  the  habit  of  chang 
ing  their  domiciles  once  a  year,  and  it  was  only 
effected  after  a  great  struggle  and  light  among 
themselves.  By  sunrise,  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  all  was  still ;  and  the  little  fellows  were 
running  about  in  search  of  roots,  upon  which  they 
live  all  winter,  down  in.  their  dark,  deep  holes. 
They  belong  to  the  species  marmot,  and  are  said 
to  be  good  eating.  I  have  never  tried  them. 
Friday,  Arapahoe  chief,  told  me  that  the  Indians 
make  use  of  their  oil  to  cure  rheumatism. 


A   NIGHT    SCENE. 

The  Bishop  of  Nebraska  visited  the  Pawnee 
reservation,  near  Columbus,  and  the  head  chief 
had  just  before  lost  his  only  son  by  death.  He 
wa.s  feeling  very  unhappy  about  it,  and  he  told 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  l..(j 

the  interpreter  to  say  to  "The  little  medicine 
man  in-the-big-heap-sleeves,"  "That  he  had  lost 
his  son,  and  was  feeling  very  heavy  here"  (lay 
ing  his  hand  upon  his  heart);  adding,  "All  is 
dark,  and  I  want  him  to  tell  me  what'the  Great 
Spirit  has  got  to  say  to  me  in  my  sorrow." 

The  bishop  said, "  Tell  him  that  we  have  a  prayer 
in  the  book,  we  always  say,  *  for  persons  in  afflic 
tion;'  we  will  all  kneel  down  and  repeat  it  sen 
tence' by  sentence,  and  remain  in  silent  prayer." 
There  in  the  shadows  of  the  evening,  a  few 
whites  mingling  among  the  dusky  faces,  as  the 
lights  shone  upon  their  bent  forms,  prayer  was 
offered  for  consolation  and  healing  of  the  poor 
old  man's  heart.  It  was  a  solemn  scene,  and 
many  sobs  were  heard  from  the  Indian  women. 
After  a  little  while,  all  rose  up  from  their  knees, 
and  the  tall  chief,  standing  erect,  said,  with  beam 
ing  eye,  "Say  to  the  Father,  say  to  him,  it's  all 
gone!  all  gone!"  He  added,  "We  are  glad  to 
hear  such  words  from  the  Great  Spirit.  We 
have  been  told  many  words  from  our  fathers 
many  moons  since ;  they  have  told  us  good 
words;  that  when  we  do  wrong  the  Great 
Spirit  is  angry  with  us.  Sometimes  we  forget 
what  they  told  us,  and  do  wrong,  killing  one 
another.  Kow,  we  are  told  you  have  a  good 
book  that  tells  yon  all  you  ought  to  do ;  and  if 
we  had  it  and  could  read  it  in  our  tents,  maybe 
we  would  be  better.  But  we  are  too  old  to  learn 


160  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

it  now.     Teach  it  to  our  children, — teacli  it  to 
our  little  ones  !"     What  an  answer  to  prayer  ! 


THE   MISSION-HOUSE. 
% 

The  chapel  and  the  mission-house,  which  is 
the  home  of  the  Santee  Sioux,  were  mainly  built 
by  the  Indians.  A  hospital  is  to  be  built  soon 
for  them,  mainly  through  the  Christian  efforts 
of  William  Welsh,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia. 


INDIAN   LANGUAGE,    COUNTING,    ETC. 

Wah-ge-la,  one.  Candle,  pal-a-za-zar. 

Numpa,  two.  Cat,  how-i-win-go-lar. 

Zornina,  three.  Boy.  ox-i-la. 

Do-be,  four.  Girl,  wi-tin-chil-a. 

Yap-ta,  five.  Small,  chu-chil-la. 

Sha-ko-pe,  six.  Hat,  por-ta. 

Dog,  sumka.  Snow,  of-hene. 

Shoko,  seven.  Pot  or  kettle,  mushta. 

Sho-go-lo-ra,  eight.  Good,  wash-ta. 

Nim-ehalk,  nine.  Don't  know,  so-lo-wash- 
Wieh-grin-ina,  ten.  ta. 

Horse,  tu-gon-ka.  To-morrow,  umpa. 
Cow  or  ox,  dib-lish. 

Major  Van  Yoost,  at  Fort  Kearney,  always  told 
the  Indians  who  begged,  "  Yes,  call  to-morrow." 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  161 

So  they  kept  calling,  and  finally  gave  him  the 
name  "  Umpa." 


INDIANS  ATTACK  LIEUT.  W.  DOUGHERTY — FIGHT  BE 
TWEEN   F(£RTS    FETTERMAN   AND    RENO. 

Lieutenant  D started   down   from    Fort 

Reno  in  the  month  of  March,  1868,  and  when 
within  seventeen  miles  of  Reno,  he  was  at 
tacked  by  a  band  of  Indians  while  he  arid  his 
escort  of  a  sergeant,  eight  men,  four  citizens,  two 
teamsters,  and  servant,  were  eating  supper  at 
Camp  Dry  Fork,  on  Powder  River.  The  dis 
tance  between  the  two  posts  is  ninety-five  miles. 
Springing  to  their  feet,  the  soldiers  fought  off  the 
Indians  till  they  could  harness  the  teams  and 
start  for  Fort  Reno.  The  fight  was  very  severe, 
the  Indians  having  every  advantage  of  position, 
as  they  skulk  over  the  bluffs  and  come  in  upon 
soldiers  and  others  when  least  expected.  By  a 

bold  dash  at  them,  Lieutenant D succeeded 

in  driving  them  off.  They  had  shot  an  arrow 
into  the  shoulder  of  a  dog  belonging  to  one  of 
the  soldiers.  The  dog  ran  towards  Reno,  carry 
ing  the  arrow  all  the  way  (seventeen  miles),  sticking 
into  the  poor  creature' 's  hide,  causing  him  immense 
pain.  And  when  he  came  in,  his  appearance  ap 
prised  the  commanding  officer  of  the  condition 

Lieutenant  D and  his  handful  of  men  were 

in,  and  he  at  once  sent  a  reinforcement  of  two 
o*  11 


162  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

companies  to  rescue  the  besieged.  This  was  the 
only  way  they  had  of  knowing  that  the  party 
were  attacked,  and  no  wonder  it  was  regarded  as 
a  providential  circumstance. 

All  reached  Fetterman  in  safety  the  next  even 
ing,  and  the  dog  is  still  a  herotimong  the  boys 
of  Company  D,  18th  United  States  Infantry. 


ARICKAREES. 

FORT  BERTHOLP,  D.  T.,  July  2d,  1864. 

I  speak  for  my  brothers,  the  Arickarees,  Gros 
Ventres,  and  Mandans.  We  all  live  in  peace  in 
the  same  village,  as  you  see  us.  We  have  a  long 
time  been  the  friends  of  the  white  man,  and  we 
will  still  be.  Our  grandfathers,  the  Black  Bear 
of  the  Arickarees,  and  the  Four  Bears  of  the 
Gros  Venires,  were  at  the  treaty  with  our  white 
brothers  on  the  Platte  a  long  time  ago.  They 
told  us  to  be  the  friends  of  our  white  brothers, 
and  not  go  to  war  with  our  neighbors,  the  Dakota 
Sioux,  Chippewas,  Crees,  Assinaboiues,  Crows, 
or  Blackfeet. 

We  listened  to  their  words  as  long  as  they  were 
heard  in  council.  They  have  both  been  killed 
by  the  Dakotas ;  we  have  none  left  among  us  who 
heard  the  talk  at  the  treaty  on  the  Platte. 

We  want  a  new  treaty  with  our  Great  Father. 
We  want  him  to  tell  us  where  we  must  live.  We 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  163 

own  the  country  from  Heart  River  to  the  Black 
Hills,  from  there  to  the  Yellowstone  River,  arid 
north  to  Moose  River. 

We  are  afraid  of  the  Dakotas  ;  they  will  kill 
us,  our  squaws  and  children,  and  steal  our  horses. 
We  must  stay  in  our  village  for  fear  of  them. 
Our  Great  Father  has  promised  us  soldiers  to  help 
us  keep  the  Dakotas  out  of  our  country.  No  help 
has  come  yet;  we  must  wait.  Has  our  Great 
Father  forgotten  his  children  ?  We  want  to  live 
in  our  country,  or  have  pay  for  it,  as  our  Great 
Father  is  used  to  do  with  his  other  red  children. 
We,  the  Arickarees,  have  been  driven  from  our 
country  on  the  other  side  of  the  Missouri  River 
by  the  Dakotas.  We  came  to  our  brothers,  the 
Gros  Venires  and  Mandans ;  they  received  us  as 
brothers,  and  we  all  live  together  in  their  village. 
We  thank  our  brothers  very  much.  We  want 
our  Father  to  bring  us  guns  to  hunt  with,  and  we 
want  dresses,  coats,  pants,  shirts,  and  hats  for 
our  soldiers,  and  a  different  dress  for  our  chiefs. 
We  want  a  school  for  our  children.  Our  hearts 
are  good.  We  do  not  speak  with  two  tongues. 
We  like  to  see  our  white  brothers  come  among 
us  very  much.  We  hear  bad  talk,  but  have  no 
ears.  When  we  hear  good  talk,  we  have  ears. 

his 
WHITE  x  SHIELD. 

mark 
To  our  Great  Father  in  Washington. 


164  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 


INDIAN    TRADING. 

A  bargain  is  never  concluded  so  long  as  any 
thing  more  can  be  obtained  by  an  Indian  from  a 
white  man.  This  feature  of  Indian  character  is 
very  old  indeed.  I  remember,  when  a  child,  that 
when  one  gave  his  brother  a  ball,  or  anything, 
and  took  it  back  again,  he  was  called  uan  Indian 
giver."  Mr.  Ilinman  gives  this  experience:  "If 
an  Indian  (not  a  Christian)  gives,  he  expects 
soon  to  ask  more  in  return.  This  is  the  selfish 
habit  of  all  heathen,  and  when  they  have  power, 
they  often  accompany  their  demands  for  gifts 
with  threats  of  killing  one's  horse,  etc.,  if  their 
demands  are  not  complied  with.  They  seem  to 
know  nothing  of  disinterestedness,  except  among 
persons  nearly  related.  An  Indian  will  press  you 
with  his  pipe  one  day,  and  the  next,  with  a  polite 
speech  about  not  intending  to  ask  pay  for  his 
pipe,  which  he  treasured  highly,  intimates  that 
he  needs  a  blanket ! 

"  One  will  offer  to  assist  you  to  work  for  a  day, 
and  the  next  ask  to  borrow  two  dollars.  They 
try  to  get  you  so  indebted  to  them  for  favors,  that 
you  cannot  decently  refuse  their  requests.  In  all 
their  speeches  they  try  to  prove  to  you  that  you 
are  indebted  to  them."  So  one  will  ask  as  few 
favors  of  them  as  possible.  He  says,  u  I  was 
surprised  at  the  Yankton  agency,  to  have  some 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  165 

young  men  offer,  without  any  pay,  to  cut  all  the 
timber  and  do  all  the  work  on  a  building  for  the 
council-room  for  the  Mission.  The  change  came 
sooner  under  their  limited  instruction  than  I 
had  expected,  and  almost  immediately  the  chief, 
*  Swan,'  offered  to  cut  logs  and  build  a  house  for 
a  chapel-school  at  his  camp,  opposite  Fort  Ran 
dall.  The  chief,  Mad  Bull,  offered*  the  same  for 
the  other  end  of  the  reservation,  near  Choctaw 
Creek. 

"  Among  those  heathens'that  have  borne  Chris 
tian  fruits  with  the  Santees,  is  '  Little  Pheasant/ 
chief  of  the  wild  Brule  Sioux,  who  came  down 
to  restore  to  the  Yankton  reservation  some  stolen 
horses,  and  promised  Paul  Mazakuta  to  take  a 
list  of  his  men  desiring  instruction.  God  is  mov 
ing  the  hearts  of  these  wild  Indians  in  a  won 
drous  way. 

u  At  our  Sunday  evening  service,  over  a  hun 
dred  Yankton  warriors  and  chiefs  were  present. 
I  preached  from  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son. 
At  the  end  of  this  passage,  '  Though  the  elder 
brother  be  still  jealous  of  the  kindness  and  mercy 
shown  to  you,  and  thinks  your  people  only  fit  to 
go  down  to  the  grave  with  the  beasts  that  perish, 
yet  God  is  good  and  just;  and  though  long  lost 
and  wandering  so  many  years,  now  found  at  )ast, 
He  will  lead  you  safely  to  his  home.'  Dulorio, 
a  chief,  said,  '  Oh,  my  friends,  this  is  where  we 
all  ought  to  cry  Ko  (yes)  with  a  loud  voice!' 


166  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

But  the  chief,  'Swan,'  replied,  '  True,  true,  Koda 
(friend) ;  but  men  must  not  applaud  in  church. 
The  words  they  give  us  ought  to  be  laid  up  in 
our  hearts.' 

"  To-day,  twenty-two  plows  are  started  in  the 
fields,  and  two  in  the  prairies,  to  break  an  addi 
tional  hundred  acres  for  wheat.  A  little  opposi 
tion  is  shown  to  dividing  the  land,  but  only  a 
few  Indians  oppose.  It  is  a  great  step,  and  one 
that  many  are  prepared  for  ;  but  it  must  be  exe 
cuted  by  a  wise  and  good  man.  It  is  the  death 
blow  to  heathenism,  barbarism,  and  idleness,  and 
therefore  a  medicine  absolutely  necessary  to  re 
store  health  and  quicken  life ;  but  yet  it  must  be 
administered  by  a  brave  and  judicious  physician. 
It  is  a  revolution  of  habit  and  of  manner  of  life 
to  the  Indian..  And  in  Minnesota,  the  delay  in 
perfecting  it>  and  the  lack  of  moral  support  given 
to  those  who  took  farms,  caused,  as  much  as  any 
thing,  the  outbreak  of  1862,  which  was,  in  the 
beginning,  a  triumph  of  the  hostile  party  over 
the  working  bands.  Philip  the  deacon,  Thomas 
Whipple,  and  Alexander  Umbeclear,  Indian  cate- 
chists,  and  two  Yanktou  head  soldiers,  who  vol 
unteered,  are  on  their  mission  to  the  wild  Sioux. 
As  far  as  I  know,  there  is  a  very  general  desire 
for  schools ;  and  God  is  surely  opening  the  way 
for  the  building  up  of  his  kingdom." 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  167 


RED    CLOUD,    SPOTTED  TAIL,    AND  THEIR    FRIENDS  IN 
WASHINGTON. 

History  will  point  to  the  visit  of  these  great 
chiefs  of  the  Sioux  tribes  at  Washington  as  the 
most  important  event  in  their  lives,  because  it 
not  only  staved  off  a  great  war  threatened  on 
the  plains,  but  most  likely  inaugurated  a  system 
of  just  and  fair  dealing  for  the  time  to  come,  that 
may  prevent  any  more  cruel  and  bloody  wars 
with  the  Indians  on  our  frontiers.  Hence  every 
incident  that  took  place  there  is  interesting;  and 
as  it  is  a  costly  expense  to  the  government,  it  is 
likely  to  be  discouraged  in  the  future,  and  if  boys 
have  another  chance  to  see  some  "  big  chiefs," 
they  will  have  to  go  a  great  way,  perhaps  to 
Nebraska  or  Dakota,  to  have  a  good  look  at 
them. 

The  party  belonging  to  Zin-tak-gah-lat-skah — 
Spotted  Tail— left  Minnesota  before  Red  Cloud's 
from  the  Powder  River  country,  and  arrived  first 
in  Washington  ;  but  their  interests  were  the 
same,  so  nothing  was  done  until  General  Smith 
arrived  with  Red  Cloud  and  reported  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  War.  He  then  turned  them  over,  as 
we  say,  to  the  Indian  Bureau,  which  has  a  suite 
of  offices,  etc.  in  the  Patent  Office  building  in 
Washington.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  who 
is  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  and  General  Parker 


168  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

• 

(Chippewa  chief),  Indian  Commissioner,  rece 
thorn  as  their  charge  during  their  stay  in  "W 
ington.      Before    lied    ('loud    came,   however, 
Spotted    Tail    had    an    interview   with    General 
Parker.    He  said  : 

"  The  government  does  not  fulfill  its  treaty 
promises,  and  that  Hupplies  of  goods  promised 
and  money  owed  for  land*  were  not  sent  to  them 
at  the  times  agreed  on,  and  that  the  white  man, 
wherever  he  can  lind  many  huflaloe*  and  #old, 
comes  on  the  Indian's  land  and  taken  the  Indian'* 
ponies." 

Colonel  Parker  told  him  of  the  many  diffi 
culties  the  Indian  Bureau  had  to  contend  with 
in  order  to  get  moneys  through  Congress,  and 
the  great  difficulties  such  a  great  gov«-n:m.-nt  an 
ours  had  to  go  through  in  conducting  all  iu 
aflaii-H.  But  he  gave  his  word  to  Spotted  Tail 

that  all    the   promises  now  made   in  the   trei 
would  he  fulfilled,  and   that  they  hhnuld  get  the 
provision*  as  soon  as  possible,     lie  naid  that  the 
Indians  must  not  go  to  war  among  themselves*, 

prejlBg  on  other  trihe*,  nor  mu~t  t.h<-y  fi.'/lit  any 

more  against  the  people  of  the  Unit-  nor 

steal  their  cnft!  eg. 

Dotted  Tail  .aid,  "He  was  glad  that  the  Great 

Fatl.  ^oing  to  treat  them  ri^ht,"  hut  did 

not.  commit  liimH«-lf  to  any  policy  f,,r  the  future. 

lie  was  too  good  an  Indian  to  make  any  profes- 

.    Spotted  Tail  has  of  late  \ 


SPOTTED  TAIL  AND  HIS  SON. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  169 

committed  no  offense  except  killing  Big  Mouth 
in  a  drunken  brawl  last  winter. 

The  citizens  of  Washington  have  now  and  then 
geen  Indian  delegations  at  the  Capitol.  But  these 
lusty  fellows,  such  as  Red  Cloud,  Swift  Bear,  and 
others,  at  once  attracted  attention. 

Their  large  size  and  well-developed  muscle, 
tall  and  graceful  in  action,  especially  when  speak 
ing  in  their  native  eloquence,  mark  them  as 
objects  of  surprise  and  wonder.  Their  faces 
were  painted  in  red,  yellow,  and  black  stripes. 
Their  ears  were  pierced,  men  and  women,  for 
large  ornaments  of  silver  and  bear's  teeth.  They 
wore  magnificent  buffalo  robes,  ornamented  and 
worked  with  beads,  horse-hair,  and  porcupine 
quills.  Red  Cloud  wore  red  leggins  beautifully 
worked  and  trimmed  with  ribbons  and  beads, 
and  his  shirt  had  as  many  colors  as  the  rainbow. 
His  robe — made  to  tell  by  characters  his  achieve 
ments  in  battle — was  quite  rich,  and  worked 
with  seal-skins.  His  moccasins  pronounced  the 
handsomest  ever  seen  there. 

The  squaws  were  ugly,  wore  short  frocks, 
turned  in  their  toes  walking,  and  had  flat  or 
pug-noses. 

It  was  said  as  a  reason  for  Red  Cloud's  not 
bringing  his  squaws  with  him,  "that  Congress 
men  left  their  squaws  at  home  !" 

Red  Cloud  said  that  the  pale-faces  are  more 
than  the  grass  in  numbers.  He  had  come  to  see 


170  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

the  Great  Father,  and  to  see  if  the  peace-pipe 
could  not  be  smoked  on  the  big  waters  of  the 
Potomac. 

The  appearance  on  the  balcony  of  the  hotel 
of  the  whole  party,  watching  the  crowds  of  pale 
faces  going  to  and  from  the  Capitol,  created 
much  curiosity,  and  the  Indians  remarked  to  one 
another  that  the  horse-thieves  in  the  Indian 
country  had  a  good  many  brothers  in  Wash 
ington  !  The  negroes  were  especially  attentive, 
and  spoke  of  them  as  quite  inferior  to  the  col 
ored  community.  They  were  assured  that  Indians 
never  scalp  negroes;  which  is  really  true,  I  found, 
in  my  interviews  with  different  tribes  on  the 
plains.  The  reason  I  can  only  guess  at:  the 
curly  hair  of  a  negro  would  not  ornament  the 
saddle-bow  of  an  Indian,  in  the  shape  of  a  scalp 
token  of  victory. 

Meeting  at  the  Bureau. 

Long  before  the  Indians  came,  the  passages  of 
the  department  were  iilled  with  a  crowd  of 
anxious  persons,  to  inspect  the  red  men  as  they 
passed  along,  and  this,  besides  being  unpleasant 
to  them,  interfered  with  their  passage  ittto  the 
council-chamber.  But  soon  they  all  got  in, 
Spotted  Tail  looking  very  dignified,  with  his 
three  companions  on  one  side  of  the  room,  while 
seated  in  two  rows  across  were  lied  Cloud  and 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  171 

his  larger  number  of  chiefs  and  head-men,  and 
the  squaws  that  came  with  them. 

General  John  E.  Smith,  who  came  with  Red 
Cloud,  Colonel  Beauvais,  of  St.  Louis,  Colonel 
Bullock,  post-trader  at  Fort  Laramie,  and  others, 
were  present. 

After  the  Indians  had  got  comfortably  seated 
and  had  passed  the  pipe  around  among  them  a 
few  times,  Commissioner  Parker,  with  Secretary 
Cox,  entered  the  council-room,  and  were  intro 
duced  to  each  Indian  of  Red  Cloud's  band,  hav 
ing  previously  seen  Spotted  Tail  and  party. 
As  Indians  never  speak  first,  but  will  sit  for 
hours,  Commissioner  Parker  opened  the  meet 
ing,  saying : 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  to-day.  I  know  that 
you  have  come  a  long  way  to  see  your  Great 
Father,  the  President  of  the  United  States.  You 
have  had  no  accident,  have  arrived  here  all  well, 
and  should  be  very  thankful  to  the  Great  Spirit 
who  has  kept  you  safe. 

"  The  Great  Father  got  Red  Cloud's  message 
that  he  wanted  to  come  to  Washington  and  see 
him,  and  the  President  said  he  might  come.  We 
will  be  ready  at  any  time  to  hear  what  Red  Cloud 
has  to  say  for  himself  and  his  people,  but  want 
him  first  to  hear  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
who  belongs  to  the  President's  council." 

The  Commissioner  stepped  aside,  and  Secre 
tary  Cox  said : 


172  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

"When  we  heard  that  the  chief  of  the  Sionx 
nation  wanted  to  come  to  Washington  to  see  the 
President  and  the  officers  of  the  government,  we 
were  glad.  We  were  glad  that  they  themselves 
said  they  wanted  to  come.  We  know  that  when 
people  are  so  far  apart  as  we  are  from  the  Sioux, 
it  is  very  hard  to  see  each  other,  and  to  know 
what  each  one  wants.  But  when  we  see  each 
other  face  to  face,  we  can  understand  better 
what  is  really  right,  and  what  we  ought  to  do. 
The  President,  General  Parker,  and  myself, 
and  all  the  officers  of  the  government,  want 
to  do  what  is  right."  [Here  Red  Cloud  gave 
a  significant  look  at  Spotted  Tail  across  the 
room.] 

"  While  you  are  here,  therefore,  we  shall  want 
you  to  tell  us  what  is  in  your  own  hearts,  all  you 
feel,  and  what  your  condition  is,  so  that  we  may 
have  a  perfect  understanding,  and, that  we  may 
make  a  peace  that  shall  last  forever.  In  coming 
here,  you  have  seen  that  this  is  a  very  great 
people,  and  we  are  growing  all  the  time.  We 
want  to  find  out  the  state  of  things  in  the  Sioux 
country,  so  that  we  may  make  satisfactory  treaties. 
In  a  day  or  two  the  President  will  see  the  chiefs, 
and  in  the  mean  time  we  want  them  to  get  ready 
to  tell  him  what  they  have  to  say,  and  we  will  make 
our  answer.  We  want  also  to  use  our  influence 
so  that  there  shall  not  only  be  peace  between  the 
Indians  and  whites,  but  that  there  shall  be  no 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  173 

more  troubles  about  difficulties  between  different 
bands  of  Indians." 

The  Commissioner  also  said  to  Spotted  Tail 
that  "  he  thanked  him  for  being  present,  and  was 
glad  of  the  good  will  he  had  for  the  whites." 
Most  thought  the  conference  was  ended,  but 
Red  Cloud,  through  his  interpreter,  said  he 
had  something  to  say. 

Stepping  up  quickly  to  the  table,  and  shaking 
hands  with  the  officials,  spoke  up  in  a  firm  voice, 
"  My  friends,  I  have  come  a  long  way  to  see  you 
and  the  Great  Father,  but  somehow  after  I  got 
here,  you  do  not  look  at  me.  When  I  heard  the 
words  of  the  Great  Father,  allowing  me  to  come, 
I  came  right  away,  and  left  my  women  and  chil 
dren.  I  want  you  to  give  them  rations,  and  a 
load  of  ammunition  to  kill  game  with.  I  wish 
you  would  blow  them  a  message  on  the  wires 
that  I  came  here  safe,  all  right." 

Secretary  Cox  said  he  would  now  only  wel 
come  them  again,  and  would  telegraph  Red 
Cloud's  message,  and  for  the  rest,  he  would  see 
what  could  be  done.  To-morrow  he  would  show 
them  what  was  to  be  seen  about  the  city.  On 
the  next  day  (Sunday)  white  people  did  no  busi 
ness,  and  on  next  day  evening  the  President 
would  meet  the  Indians  at  the  Executive  Man 
sion. 

They  were  invited  to  have  their  photographs 
taken,  but  Red  Cloud  declined, 
p* 


1T4  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Red  Cloud  and  Spotted  Tail  went  up  to  the 
Capitol,  where  they  climbed  to  the  dome,  taking 
a  view  of  the  city  ;  but  what  most  interested  them 
was  the  large  mirrors  and  the  marble  busts  of  two 
Indian  chiefs.  "They  came  into  the  Senate  while 
the  Indian  Appropriation  Bill  was  under  consid 
eration,  and  while  they  were  fanning  themselves 
incessantly,  the  interpreter  explained  what  they 
were  doing,  but  the  Indians  said  nothing.  But 
the  greatest  event  for  them  was  the 

Grand  Reception  to  the  Indian  Delegations  by  the 
President,  attended  by  all  the  Foreign  Diplomats. 

This  took  place  at  the  White  House  on  the 
evening  of  June  6th.  It  appeared  that  the 
President  and  Mrs.  Grant  had  arranged  with 
General  Parker  to  give  a  surprise-party  to  the 
Indians,  the  diplomatic  corps,  the  cabinet,  and 
other  dignitaries,  What  they  intended  to  do  was 
supposed  to  be  a  great  secret,  but  it  leaked  out 
as  early  as  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  many 
wanted  to  see  the  sight. 

The  carriages  of  the  foreign  ministers,  secre 
taries,  and  attaches  of  legations  were  driven  up 
to  the  entrance  of  the  White  House  with  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  legation  ;  then  came 
the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  ladies,  and  some 
senators  and  members  of  Congress.  Soon  the 
Blue,  Green  and  Red  Rooms  were  crowded. 
The  ladies  were  dressed  in  their  gayest  cos- 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  175 

tume§,  and  the  gentlemen  had  on  their  Sunday 
clothes. 

About  seven  o'clock  the  entire  Indian  delega 
tion  drove  up,  with  Red  Cloud,  Spotted  Tail,  with 
his  three  braves,  in  open  barouches,  and  soon 
shown  into  the  East  Room. 

This  room  wTas  brilliantly  illuminated,  and 
bouquets  of  flowers  were  scattered  around. 

General  Parker  welcomed  the  Indians,  and 
told  them  they  were  to  see  the  President  and  his 
wife  and  children,  and  the  members  of  his  great 
council,  the  cabinet,  and  members  also  of  other 
nations  over  the  big  waters  to  the  President,  and 
have  a  hand-shake,  "How"  and  talk,  if  they 
wished.  Spotted  Tail  and  braves  were  seated  in 
the  end  of  the  Southeast  Room,  and  Red  Cloud 
and  band,  with  the  squaws,  along  the  east  side. 
Spotted  Tail  and  his  party  were  dressed  in  blue 
blankets,  white  leggins,  and  white  shirts,  and 
each  had  a  single  eagle's  feather  stuck  in  the  back 
of  his  hair  ;  all  their  faces  had  on  war-paint,  and 
all  the  beads  and  other  trinkets  they  could  pile 
on,  adorned  their  persons. 

Red  Clout],  in  his  paint,  looked  awful,  and  he 
wore  a  head-djess  of  eagle  feathers  sewed  on  red 
flannel.  This  was  trailed  down  to  his  feet,  and 
attracted  much  notice  from  its  oddity  and  beauty. 
Red  Dog,  his  lieutenant  and  orator,  had  a  beauti 
ful  head-gear,  as  also  did  several  others.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  describe  the  different 


176  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ornaments  worn  by  these  Indians,  but  they  looked 
as  gay  as  an  actor  personating  Richard  the  Third 
on  the  stage. 

The  squaws  wore  short  dresses  and  high  bodies 
or  shirts,  and  their  cheeks,  noses,  and  foreheads 
thickly  covered  with  red  paint.  Both  parties 
soon  set  up  a  lively  jabber  in  Sioux;  but  General 
Parker  gave  a  sign,  and  all  were  as  whist  as  mice. 

The  folding-doors  were  opened  from  the  broad 
passage-way  into  the  East  Room,  and  soon  the 
President  was  ushered  in  with  Mrs.  Grant,  Sec 
retary  Fish  and  wife,  Secretary  Belknap  and 
wife,  Secretary  Cox,  wife  and  daughter,  Secretary 
Boutwell  and  wife,  Secretary  Robeson  and  Miss 
Nellie  Grant,  Judge  Hoar,  wife  and  daughter, 
Postmaster-General  Cresswell,  wife  and  sister, 
Generals  Porter, Den t,  Babcock,  and  others;  then 
followed  senators,  members,  and  their  wives  and 
other  ladies.  Next,  Minister  Thornton,  wife  and 
lady  friends,  with  Mr.  Secretary  Ford,  wife,  and 
other  attaches  of  the  British  legation  ;  Baron  Ge- 
rolt,  wife  and  daughter,  M.  and  Madame  Garcia, 
and  indeed  all  the  representatives  of  foreign 
nations  on  the  whole  earth  but  Chin^,  and  Japan. 
The  diplomatic  corps  did  not  wear  uniforms,  but 
imitated  the  Indians,  who  had  many  insignia  of 
rank  in  tell-tales  of  scalps  taken,  etc.,  by  putting 
on  all  their  stars  and  orders,  and  each  wore  swal 
low-tail  coats,  white  vests,  neckties,  and  gloves 
and  dark  pants. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  177 

Mrs.  Grant  was  attired  in  a  handsome  grena 
dine,  and  wore  a  diamond  necklace,  and  japonica 
hair  adornings.  The  other  ladies  seemed  to  have 
vied  with  each  other  to  out-dress  one  another, 
surpassing  even  their  gay  attire  at  their  winter 
receptions. 

Soon  the  President  with  his  party  had  all  got 
into  the  East  Room,  on  the  west  side,  the  Presi 
dent,  with  Secretary  Fish,  General  Parker,  and 
M.  Beauvais,  the  interpreter;  next,  Mrs.  Grant, 
Mrs.  Parker,  and  Mrs.  Fish,  distributed  so  as  to 
see  all  going  on,  while  the  Indians  lounged  lazily 
on  the  sofas  staring  at  their  white  brethren,  both 
parties  mutually  surprised.  Then  General  Parker 
made  a  sign  to  Spotted  Tail  with  his  braves,  and 
they  rose  up,  one  by  one,  advancing  to  where 
the  President  and  his  party  were  standing,  and 
the  introduction,  hand-shaking,  etc.  began  ;  the 
Indians,  as  usual,  said  "  How."  Red  Cloud  fol 
lowed  with  his  baud,  and  all  said  "How,  How," 
shaking  hands  with  each  one  present.  The  ladies 
seemed  to  enjoy  this  very  much,  laughing  and 
chatting,  and  wishing,  perhaps,  they  could  speak 
the  Indian  language ;  for  they  forgot  for  a  few 
moments  all  the  restraints  of  the  situation,  and 
went  in  for  real  fun  and  frolic  with  these  tawny 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  plains  and  mountains, 

Good  rounds  of  hand-shaking  indulged  in, 
many  questions  were  put  and  answered  through 
the  interpreters,  and  a  careful  examination  waa 
12 


178  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

made  of  the  hair-dressing,  the  paint  on  the 
cheeks,  the  beads,  tin  ornaments  of  the  Indians, 
and  the  sparkling  diamonds  of  our  own  people. 
The  wonder,  remarks,  and  laughter  of  each  party, 
as  something  struck  them  as  singular  or  ludi 
crous,  were  going  on  all  over  the  room  ;  for  the 
order  was  soon  broken  up,  and  all  mixed  in,  pale 
faces  and  Indian  alike,  quite  indiscriminately. 

The  scene  was  novel  indeed.  Here  might  be 
seen  the  chief  of  our  nation,  leaning  on  his  arm 
one  of  the  ladies  from  a  foreign  court,  or  a  belle 
of  America  mingling  in  with  a  group  of  red-skins, 
and  trying  through  an  interpreter  to  converse 
with  them ;  the  ladies  anxious  to  know  the 
history  of  Zin-ta-ga-let-skah,  or  Stinking-saddle 
cloth,  or  the  Elk-that-bellows-walking,  or  Man- 
afraid-of-his-Horses,  etc.  Here  the  bachelor  of 
the  navy  was  trying  to  pump  an  Indian  about 
his  canoes,  to  please  half  a  dozen  pretty  girls  he 
had  in  tow ;  but  the  interpreters  being  busy,  the 
Indian  could  only  make  signs,  give  a  grunt,  a 
stare,  or  grin  in  reply.  Mrs.  Grant,  with  some 
ladies,  also  tried  to  have  a  "  say"  with  them  on 
her  own  hook,  but  gave  up  soon  in  despair. 

Another  signal  of  General  Parker,  and  the 
Indians  were  in  their  places ;  next  the  whites 
stood  in  order,  and  then  the  red  brethren  walked 
into  the  Green,  Blue  and  Red  Rooms,  and  into 
the  presidential  state  dining-room. 

Here  came  a  new  surprise,  and  a  refreshing 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  179 

sight.  The  state  dining-table  was  beautifully 
decorated  with  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver, 
dishes,  glasses,  flowers,  bouquets,  etc.,  and  was 
fairly  loaded  down  with  fruits,  berries,  ice-cream, 
confections,  and  wines.  Side-tables  were  set  out 
with  delicacies  of  the  season,  and  it  was  seen  that 
the  President,  with  his  amiable  wife,  had  gotten 
up  a  strawberry  and  fruit  festival  for  the  wild 
men  and  civilized  big  bugs  of  the  nations. 

In  the  mean  while,  the  Indians  were  ranged 
round  the  main  table,  while  the  President  and 
Mrs.  Grant  and  friends  proceeded  to  help  the 
Indians  to  all  the  delicacies  they  never  saw  before, 
and  which  they  must  have  regarded  as  far  ahead 
of  a  dog-feast,  or  the  simple  wild  currants  and 
plums  they  pick  in  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

The  ladies  of  the  foreign  ministers  were  not 
backward  in  their  assistance.  Secretary  Boutwel). 
helped  Red  Dog  to  strawberries  and  cake,  Judge 
Hoar  and  Secretary  Robeson  paid  much  attention 
to  the  four  squaws,  cutting  cake,  and  giving  them 
knick-knacks. 

One  of  the  squaws  took  from  the  President  a 
French  kiss  and  a  bonbon,  and  taking  her  pocket- 
book  from  her  bosom,  put  them  both  into  it,  in- 
(  tending  to  carry  it  home,  three  thousand  miles, 
to  her  papoose,  and  then  returned  it  to  its  hiding- 
place,  amid  roars  of  laughter,  in  which  President 
Grant  joined  as  heartily  as  anybody. 

It  was  noticed  that  Red  Cloud  and  Spotted 


180  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Tail  ate  very  freely  of  strawberries,  cherries, 
cakes,  bananas,  etc.,  and  that  while  Red  Cloud 
and  his  party  took  freely  of  wine  several  times, 
Spotted  Tail  and  his  three  braves  only  partook 
of  the  "  fire-water''  once.  All  then  went  in  and 
did  ample  justice  to  the  feast  till  they  were  satis 
fied.  If  one  could  imagine  a  mass  of  beauty,  love 
liness,  and  full  dress  crowded  into  rather  a  small 
compass,  with  thirty  Indians,  and  as  many  more 
of  the  male  sex  of  our  own  color,  all  eating,  chat 
ting,  and  laughing  at  the  same  time,  then  you 
have  a  faint  idea  of  this  first  great  entertainment 
to  a  body  representing  thirty  thousand  warriors, 
as  a  new  feature  of  inaugurating  peace  for  blood 
shed,  rapine,  and  murder,  in  the  presidential  state 
dining-room  that  night. 

Then  all  were  marched  back  into  the  East 
Room,  seated  on  sofas,  and  promenading  up,  in 
and  down  in  front  of  the  Indians  and  their 
squaws. 

Each  Indian  was  presented  with  a  small  bou 
quet  by  Misses  Nellie  and  Jessie  Grant,  and  a 
number  of  their  juvenile  companions.  Spotted 
Tail,  in  answer  to  a  question  of  the  President, 
told  him  he  had  eleven  children.  The  President 
told  the  interpreter  to  inform  him  that  he  would 
take  one  of  his  boys  and  educate  him,  and  have 
him  cared  for  by  the  government. 

Spotted  Tail  said  he  would  think  the  matter 
over. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  181 

The  President  told  Red  Cloud  he  would  see 
him  in  a  day  or  two  on  business. 

The  Indians  all  expressed  themselves  to  the 
interpreter  as  having  u  big  hearts,"  "  heap  good 
eat,"  "  like  much  Great  Father,"  and  "  much 
good  white  squaws." 

Mrs.  Grant's  beautiful  gold  fan  quite  took  the 
eyes  of  the  squaws,  and  they  showed  much  de 
light,  saying  they  would  get  some  pretty  fans  for 
themselves.  Soon  (as  there  is  an  end  to  all 
things)  the  party  broke  up;  the  white  guests  to 
dream  perhaps  of  some  strange  play  at  a  theatre, 
and  the  Indians  to  imagine  themselves  trans 
planted  to  the  happy  hunting-grounds  they  feel 
sure  they  are  to  enter  hereafter,  when  they  have 
done  with  hunting  the  antelope,  the  deer,  and 
the  buffalo,  on  the  plains. 

Important  Interview. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Commissioner 
Parker,  General  J.  E.  Smith,  Messrs.  Collyer, 
F.  C.  Brunot,  and  the  other  Indian  delegates, 
met  in  a  grand  council  at  the  Patent  Office  build 
ing.  All  the  Indians  were  dressed  in  full  cos 
tume,  and  seemed  to  be  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  the  occasion.  Secretary  Cox  made 
a  lon^  address  to  the  Indians  on  behalf  of  the 

O 

President,  assuring  them  that  if  they  would  go 
to  their  reservations,  and  keep  the  peace,  all  the 
rations  and  goods  promised  them  by  the  govern- 
Q 


182  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ment  would  be  sent  to  them,  and  agents  also,  to 
see  that  they  reached  them  safely. 

In  regard  to  giving  them  arms  and  ammuni 
tion,  he  said  they  would  not  be  given  them  at 
present,  but  after  they  have  kept  themselves 
peaceable  on  reservations  fora  time,  these  would 
be  furnished. 

Red  Cloud  then  shook  hands  with  all,  and 
said : 

"  I  came  from  where  the  sun  sets.  You  were 
raised  on  the  chairs.  I  want  to  sit  where  the 
Indian  wrarrior  sat." 

Bitting  down  on  the  floor,  Indian  fashion,  he 
went  on  : 

"  The  Great  Spirit  has  raised  me  this  way.  lie 
raised  me  naked.  I  make  no  opposition  to  the 
Great  Father  who  sits  in  the  White  House.  I 
don't  want  to  fight.  I  have  offered  my  prayer  to 
the  Great  Father  so  that  I  might  come  here  safe 
and  well.  What  I  have  to  say  to  you  and  to 
these  men,  and  to  my  Great  Father,  is  this  :  Look 
at  me !  I  was  raised  where  the  sun  rises,  and  I 
came  from  where  he  sets.  Whose  voice  was  the 
first  heard  in  this  land  ?  The  red  people's.  Who 
raised  the  bow  ?  The  Great  Father  may  be  good 
and  kind,  but  I  can't  see  it.  I  am  good  and  kind 
to  white  people,  and  have  given  my  lands,  and 
have  now  come  from  where  the  sun  sets  to  see 
you.  The  Great  Father  has  sent  his  people  out 
there,  and  left  me  nothing  but  an  island.  Our 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  183 

nation  is  melting  away  like  the  snow  on  the  side 
of  the  hills  where  the  sun  is  warm,  while  your 
people  are  like  the  blades  of  grass  in  the  spring 
when  summer  is  coming.  I  don't  want  to  see 
the  white  people  making  roads  in  our  country. 
Now  that  I  have  come  into  my  Great  Father's 
land,  see  if  I  have  any  blood  when  I  return  home. 
The  white  people  have  sprinkled  blood  on  the 
blades  of  grass  about  the  line  of  Fort  Fetterman. 
Tell  the  Great  Father  to  ^remove  that  fort,  and 
then  we  will  be  peaceful,  and  there  will  be  no 
more  troubles. 

"  I  have  yet  two  mountains  in  that  country, — 
the  Black  Hills  and  B5^  Horn.     I  want  no  roads 

O 

there.  There  have  been  stakes  driven  in  that 
country,  and  I  want  them  removed.  I  have  told 
these  things  three  times,  and  now  have  come 
here  to  tell  them  for  the  fourth  time.  I  have 
made  up  my  mind  to  take  that  way.  I  don't 
want  my  reservation  on  the  Missouri  home  of 
these  people.  I  hear  that  my  old  men  and  chil 
dren  are  dying  off  like  sheep.  The  country  don't 
suit  them.  I  was  born  at  the  Forks  of  the  Platte. 
My  father  and  mother  told  me  that  the  land  there 
belonged  to  me.  From  the  north  and  west  the 
red  nation  has  come  into  the  Great  Father's 
house.  We  are  the  last  of  the  Ogallallas.  We 
have  come  to  know  the  facts  from  our  Father, 
why  the  promises  which  have  been  made  to  us 
have  not  been  kept. 


184  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

"  I  want  two  or  three  traders  that  we  asked  for 
at  the  mouth  of  Horse  Creek  in  1852.  There 
was  a  treaty  made,  and  the  man  who  made  the 
treaty  (alluding  to  General  Mitchell),  who  per 
formed  that  service  for  the  government,  told  the 
truth.  The  goods  which  have  been  sent  out  to 
me  have  been  stolen  all  along  the  road,  and  only 
a  handful  would  reach  to  go  among  my  nation. 

"  Look  at  me  here  !  I  am  poor  and  naked.  I 
was  not  provided  with  arms,  and  always  wanted 
to  be  peaceful.  The  Great  Spirit  has  raised  you 
to  read  and  write,  and  has  put  papers  before  you; 
but  he  has  not  raised  me  in  that  way.  The  men 
whom  the  President  sends  us  are  soldiers,  and  all 
have  no  sense  and  no  heart.  I  know  it  to-day. 
I  didn't  ask  that  the  whites  should  go  through 
my  country  killing  game,  and  it  is  the  Great 
Father's  fault.  You  are  the  people  who  should 
keep  peace.  For  the  railroads  you  are  passing 
through  my  country,  I  have  not  received  even  so 
much  as  a  brass  ring  for  the  land  they  occupy. 
[Nor  even  a  shilling  an  acre  for  the  lands  taken 
from  the  red  men,  he  might  have  said.]  I  wish 
you  to  tell  my  Great  Father  that  the  whites  make 
all  the  ammunition.  What  is  the  reason  you 
don't  give  it  to  me  ?  Are  you  afraid  I  am  going 
to  war?  You  are  great  and  powerful,  and  I  am 
only  a  handful.  I  don't  want  it  for  that  purpose, 
but  to  kill  game  with.  I  suppose  I  must  in  time 
go  to  farming,  but  I  can't  do  it  right  away." 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  185 

Secretary  Cox  promised  that  their  complaints 
should  be  attended  to  by  the  Great  Father. 

Another  Interview. 

The  Secretary  made  a  speech,  saying  that  some 
of  the  requests  made  by  the  Indians  concerning 
their  rations  and  allowing  them  traders  would  be 
acceded  to,  and  that  government  would  do  all  in  its 
power  to  make  them  happy.  He  announced  that 
they  had  already  received  some  presents  in  the 
shape  of  blankets,  etc.,  and  would  receive  more 
in  New  York  on  their  way  home.  He  repeated 
what  the  President  said  concerning  Fort  Fet- 
terman.  It  must  remain.  They  would  soon  be 
started  on  their  homeward  journey,  which  infor 
mation  was  received  by  the  Indians  with  unmis 
takable  signs  of  delight. 

lied  Cloud  spoke  in  reply,  evincing  most  cer 
tainly  his  dissatisfaction  at  the  determination  of 
the  government  not  to  remove  Fort  Fetterman. 
He  said  there  was  no  necessity  for  its  continu 
ance,  and  its  presence  was  a  useless  burden  and 
expense  to  the  Great  Father.  He  also  took  ex 
ceptions  against  the  roads  running  through  his 
country,  and  intimated  that  if  trouble  arose,  it 
would  be  the  fault  of  the  Great  Father. 

Red  Cloud  made  another  speech,  in  which  he 
said,  "  The  troops  in  my  country  are  all  fools,  and 
the  government  is  throwing  away  its  money  for 
nothing.  The  officers  there  are  all  whisky-drink- 


186  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ers.  The  Great  Father  sends  out  there  the  whisky- 
drinkers  because  lie  don't  want  them  around  him 
here.  I  do  not  allow  my  nation  or  any  white  man 
to  bring  a  drop  of  liquor  into  my  country.  If  he 
does,  that  is  the  last  of  him  and  his  liquor. 
Spotted  Tail  can  drink  as  much  as  he  pleases  on 
the  Missouri  River,  and  they  can  kill  one  another 
if  they  choose.  I  do  not  hold  myself  responsi 
ble  for  what  Spotted  Tail  does.  When  you  buy 
anything  with  my  money,  I  want  you  to  buy  me 
what  is  useful.  I  do  not  want  city  flour,  rotten 
tobacco,  and  soldiers'  old  clothes  dyed  black, 
such  as  you  bought  for  Spotted  Tail.  I  only  tell 
you  what  is  true.  You  have  had  a  great  war, 
but  after  it  was  over  you  permitted  the  chiefs 
who  had  been  fighting  to  come  back." 

Secretary  Cox  explained  the  treaty  of  1868  to 
the  Indians,  and  said,  "The  best  way  is  to  be 
friendly  and  deal  honestly  with  each  other.  The 
last  treaty  made  provided  for  a  railroad  to  be 
built.  The  Sioux  agreed  not  to  disturb  it,  and 
that  it  should  be  built.  Now,  if  the  road  inter 
feres  with  hunting,  we  will  try  to  make  good  the 
damage  by  feeding  you.  We  mean  that  the  gov 
ernment  shall  keep  back  \vhite  men  from  going 
into  the  Indian  country,  as  well  as  bad  Indians 
from  going  into  the  white  country.  This  is  what 
the  troops  are  there  for.  If  any  of  our  people  at 
the  forts  do  not  do  what  is  right,  the  President 
will  punish  them  and  send  better  men  in  their 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  187 

places.     The  same  treaty  gives  the  lines  of  the. 
Indian  country." 

A  map  was  produced,  and  the  Secretary  ex 
plained  the  boundaries  fixed  in  the  treaty  of 
1868.  Bed  Cloud  looked  on  with  great  interest. 
He  said  he  was  asked  to  sign  the  treaty  merely 
to  show  that  he  was  peaceable,  and  not  to  grant 
their  lands.  He  continued,  saying,  "  This  is  the 
first  time  I  have  heard  of  such  a  treaty,  and  I  do 
not  mean  to  follow  it.  I  want  to  know  who  was 
the  interpreter  who  interpreted  these  things  to 
the  Indians."  The  names  of  three  were  men 
tioned,  and  he  said,  "I  know  nothing  about  it. 
It  was  never  explained  to  me." 

Bear-in-the-  Grass  said,  "  The  Great  Spirit  hears 
me  to-day.  I  tell  nothing  but  what  is  true 
when  I  say  these  words  of  the  treaty  were 
not  explained.  It  was  only  said  the  treaty 
was  for  peace  and  friendship  among  the  whites. 
When  we  took  hold  of  the  pen  they  said  they 
would  take  the  troops  away  so  we  could  raise 
children." 

Secretary  Cox  explained  that  the  treaty  was 
signed  by  more  than  two  hundred  different  Sioux 
of  all  the  bands. 

Red  Cloud  — "  I  do  not  say  the  Commissioners 
lied,  but  the  interpreters  were  wrong.  I  never 
heard  a  word  only  what  was  brought  to  my  camp. 
When  the  forts  were  removed,  I  came  to  make 
peace.  You  had  your  war  houses.  When  you 


188  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

removed  them,  I  signed  a  treaty  of  peace.  We 
want  to  straighten  things  up." 

Secretary  Cox. — "I  have  been  very  careful  so 
that  no  mistake  may  be  made,  and  that  our  words 
should  be  as  open  as  daylight,  so  we  may  under 
stand  what  binds  the  Sioux  and  ourselves.  We 
are  trying  to  get  Congress  to  carry  out  our  prom 
ises,  and  we  want  the  Indians  to  do  their  part. 
We  simply  say  that  this  is  the  agreement  made 
as  we  remember.  We  have  copies  printed.  We 
will  give  one  to  Red  Cloud  so  it  can  be  inter 
preted  to  him  exactly  what  it  is." 

Red  Cloud  said,  u  All  the  promises  made  in 
the  treaty  have  never  been  fulfilled.  The  object 
of  the  whites  is  to  crush  the  Indians  down  to 
nothing.  The-Great  Spirit  will  judge  these  things 
hereafter.  All  the  words  I  sent  never  reached 
the  Father.  They  are  lost  before  they  get  here. 
I  am  chief  of  the  thirty-nine  nations  of  Sioux.  I 
will  not  take  the  paper  with  me.  It  is  all  lies." 

The  Secretary  distributed  copies  of  the  treaty 
to  the  interpreting  agents  and  traders  present, 
and  adjourned  the  council  till  next  day,  in  order 
that  meantime  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  be  ex 
plained  to  the  Indians. 

Final  Interview. 

They  appeared  to  be  much  depressed,  having 
reflected  over  the  proceedings  of  the  day  before. 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  189 

They  reluctantly  came  to  the  meeting  next  morn 
ing,  the  earnest  persuasion  of  the  interpreter, 
agent,  and  traders  having  induced  them  to  do  so. 
They  stated  that  their  refusal  to  attend  might 
result  to  their  injury.  The  night  before  lied 
Shirt  was  so  much  depressed  in  spirits  that  he 
wanted  to  commit  suicide,  saying  that  he  might 
as  well  die  here  as  elsewhere,  as  th.ey  had  been 
swindled. 

Further  Explanations. 

Commissioner  Parker  opened  the  proceedings 
by  saying  the  Indians  were  asked  to  come  up 
because  it  was  thought  they  ought  to  have  some 
thing  to  say  before  they  went  home.  Secre 
tary  Cox  said  to  them  he  was  very  sorry  to  find 
out  that  Red  Cloud  and  his  people  have  not  un 
derstood  what  was  in  the  treaty  of  1868 ;  there 
fore  he  wanted  him  to  come  here,  so  that  all 
mistakes  might  be  explained  and  be  dismissed. 
It  was  important  to  know  exactly  how  matters 
stood.  This  government  did  not  want  to  drive 
them.  The  Secretary  then  explained,  at  some 
length,  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  the  limits  of 
the  hunting-grounds,  the  reservation,  etc.  He 
understood  that  Red  Cloud  and  his  band  were 
unwilling  to  go  on  the  reservation,  but  wanted 
to  live  on  the  head- waters  of  the  Big  Cheyenne 
River,  northeast  of  Fort  Fetterman.  This  was 
outside  of  the  permanent  reservation,  but  inside 


190  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

the  part  reserved  for  hunting-ground.  The  Sec 
retary  was  willing  to  say,  if  that  would  please 
them,  he  would  make  it  so,  and  have  their  busi 
ness  agents  there;  this  would  still  keep  white 
people  off  the  hunting-ground.  The  government 
would  give  them  cattle  and  food  and  clothing,  so 
as  to  make  them  happy  in  their  new  home.  The 
Secretary  said  he  would  write  down  the  names  of 
the  men  in  whom  the  Indians  have  confidence, 
and  want  for  their  agent  and  traders.  He  desired 
to  find  out  whether  they  were  good  men,  and 
could  be  trusted  by  the  government.  He  was 
sorry  the  Indians  felt  bad  on  finding  out  what 
was  in  the  treaty ;  'but  the  best  way  was  to  tell  it 
all,  so  there  might  not  be  any  misunderstanding. 

Red  Cloud,  having  shaken  hands  with  the  Sec 
retary  and  Commissioner  Parker,  seated  himself 
on  the  floor,  and  said : 

u  What  I  said  to  the  Great  Father,  the  Presi 
dent,  is  now  in  my  mind.  I  have  only  a  few 
words  to  add  this  morning.  I  have  become  tired 
of  speaking.'  Yesterday,  when  I  saw  the  treaty, 
and  all  the  false  things  in  it,  I  was  mad.  I  sup 
pose  it  made  you  the  same.  The  Secretary  ex 
plained  it  this  morning,  and  now  I  am  pleased. 
As  to  the  goods  you  talked  about,  I  want  what 
is  due  and  belongs  to  me.  The  red  people  were 
raised  with  the  bow  and  arrow,  and  are  all  of  one 
nation ;  but  the  whites,  who  are  educated  and 
civilized,  swindle' me;  and  I  am  not  hard  to 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  191 

swindle,  because  I  cannot  read  and  write.  We 
have  thirty-two  nations  (or  bands),  and  have  a 
council-house  the  same  as  you  have.  We  held  a 
council  before  we  came  here,  and  the  demands  I 
have  made  upon  you  from  the  chiefs  I  left  behind 
me  are  all  alike.  You  whites  have  a  chief  you 
go  by,  but  all  the  chief  I  go  by  is  God  Almighty. 
When  he  tells  me  anything  that  is  for  the  best, 
I  always  go  by  his  guidance.  The  whites  think 
the  Great  Spirit  has  nothing  to  do  with  us,  but 
he  has.  After  fooling  with  us  and  taking  away 
our  property,  they  will  have  to  suffer  for  it  here 
after.  The  Great  Spirit  is  now  looking  at  us, 
and  we  offer  him  our  prayers. 

"When  we  had  a  talk  at  the  mouth  of  Horse 
Creek,  in  1852,  you  made  a  chief  of  Conquering 
Bear  and  then  destroyed  him,  and  since  then  we 
have  had  no  chief.  You  white  people  did  the 
same  to  your  great  chief.  You  killed  one  of  our 
great  fathers.  The  Great  Spirit  makes  us  suffer 
for  our  wrong-doing.  You  promised  us  many 
things,  but  you  never  performed  them.  You 
take  away  everything.  Even  if  you  live  forty 
years  or  fifty  years  in  this  world  and  then  die, 
you  cannot  take  all  your  goods  with  you.  The 
Great  Spirit  will  not  make  me  suffer,  because  I 
am  ignorant.  He  will  put  me  in  a  place  where 
I  "will  be  better  off  than  in  this  world.  The  Great 
Spirit  raised  me  naked  and  gave  me  no  arms. 
Look  at  me.  This  is  the  way  I  was  raised.  White 


192  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

men  say  we  are  bad,  we  are  murderers,  but  I 
cannot  see  it."  [Red  Cloud  did  not  use  this  slang 
phrase, — no  Indian  speaks  so, — and  the  inter 
preters  spoil  much  of  the  beauty  of  idiom  in 
translating  what  the  Indian  says.  He  meant, 
"I  did  not  so  understand  it."] 

"  We  gave  up  our  lands  whenever  the  whites 
came  into  our  country.  Tell  the  Great  Father  I 
am  poor.  In  earlier  years,  when  I  had  plenty  of 
game,  I  could  make  a  living;  I  gave  land  away, 
but  I  am  too  poor  for  that  now.  I  want  some 
thing  for  my  land.  I  want  to  receive  some  pay 
for  the  lands  where  you  have  made  railroads. 
My  Father  has  a  great  many  children  out  West 
with  no  ears,  brains,  or  heart.  You  have  the 
names  to  the  treaty  of  persons  professing  to  be 
chiefs,  but  I  am  chief  of  that  nation.  Look  at 
me.  My  hair  is  straight.  I  was  free  born  on 
this  land.  An  interpreter  who  signed  the  treaty 
has  curly  hair.  He  is  no  man.  I  will  see  him 
hereafter.  I  know  I  have  been  wronged.  The 
words  of  my  Great  Father  never  reach  me,  and 
mine  never  reach  him.  There  are  too  many 
streams  between  us.  The  Great  Spirit  has  raised 
me  on  wild  game.  I  know  he  has  left  enough 
to  support  my  children  for  awhile.  You  have 
stolen  Denver  from  me.  Yo«u  never  gave  me 
anything  for  it.  Some  of  our  people  went  there 
to  engage  in  farming,  and  you  sent  your  white 
children  and  scattered  them  all  away.  Now  I 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  193 

have  only  two  mounds  left,  and  I  want  them  for 
myself  and  people.  There  is  treasure  in  them. 
You  have  stolen  mounds  containing  gold.  I  have 
for  many  years  lived  with  the  men  I  want  for  my 
superintendent,  agent,  and  traders,  and  am  well 
acquainted  with  them.  I  know  they  are  men  of 
justice;  they  do  what  is  right.  If  you  appoint 
them,  and  any  blame  comes,  it  will  not  be  on  you, 
but  on  me.  I  would  be  willing  to  let  you  go" upon 
our  land  when  the  time  comes ;  but  that  would 
not  be  until  after  the  game  is  gone.  I  do  not  ask 
my  Great  Father  to  give  me  anything.  I  came 
naked,  and  will  go  away  naked.  I  want  you  to 
tell  my  Great  Father  I  have  no  further  business. 
I  want  you  to  put  me  on  a  straight  line.  I  want 
to  stop  in  St.  Louis  to  see  Robert  Campbell,  an 
old  friend."  Red  Cloud  then  pointed  to  a  lady 
in  the  room,  saying,  "Look  at  that  woman.  She 
was  captured  by  Silver  Horn's  party.  I  wish  you 
to  pay  her  what  her  captors  owe  her.  I  am  a  man 
true  to  what  I  say,  and  want  to  keep  my  promise. 
The  Indians  robbed  that  lady  there,  and  through 
your  influence  I  want  her  to  be  paid." 

Secretary  Cox  replied  to  Red  Cloud  that  the 
treaty  showed  how  the  land  was  to  be  paid  for. 
They  were  to  be  given  cattle,  agricultural  instru 
ments,  seeds,  houses,  blacksmith-shops,  teachers, 
etc.,  and  food  and  clothing.  The  land  is  good  in 
two  ways :  one  is  to  let  the  game  grow  for  the 
B  13 


194  THE  SOY'S  BOOK 

hunt;  the  other,  to  plow  it  up  and  get  corn  and 
wheat,  and  other  things  out  of  it,  and  raise  cattle 
on  it.  The  reason  why  so  many  white  men  live 
on  their  land  is  that  they  treat  it  in  this  way. 
He  would  correct  Red  Cloud  in  a  remark  made 
by  him.  "  The  whites  do  not  expect  to  take  their 
goods  with  them  into  the  other  world.  We  know 
as  well  as  the  Indians  do  that  we  go  out  of  the 
world  as  naked  as  when  we  came  into  it;  but 
while  here  in  the  world  we  take  pleasure  in  build 
ing  great  houses  and  towns,  and  make  good  bread 
to  eat. 

"  We  are  trying  to  teach  them  to  do  the  same 
things,  so  that  they  may  be  as  well  off  as  we  are. 
Here  [pointing  to  Commissioner  Parker]  is  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  who  is  a  chief 
among  us.  He  belonged  to  a  race  who  lived 
there  long  before  the  white  man  came  to  this 
country.  He  now  has  power,  and  white  people 
obey  him,  and  he  directs  what  shall  be  done  in 
very  important  business.  We  will  be  brethren 
to  you  in  the  same  way  if  you  follow  his  good 
example  and  learn  our  civilization." 

Red  Cloud  responded,  "  I  don't  blame  him  for 
being  a  chief.  He  ought  to  be  one.  We  are  all 
.of  one  nation." 

Secretary  Cox. — "Those  Indians  who  become 
chiefs  among  us  do  so  by  learning  the  white 
man's  customs,  and  ceasing  to  be  dependent  as 
children.  I  was  glad  to  hear  Red  Cloud  say  he 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  •  195 

would  not  go  away  angry.  General  Smith  will 
see  that  you  get  good  presents.  But  these  are 
small  things  compared  with  the  arrangements 
that  will  be  made  to  make  you  prosperous  and 
happy.  Some  of  the  Peace  Commissioners  will 
go  to  your  country  to  see  tha't  you  are  well 
treated.  I  do  not  want  you  to  think  the  days 
coming  are  black  days.  I  want  you  to  think  they 
will  be  bright  and  happy  days.  Be  of  good 
spirit.  If.  you  feel  like  a  man  who  is  lost  in  the 
woods,  we  will  guide  you  out  of  them  to  a  pleasant 
place.  You  will  go  home  two  days  from -now. 
One  day  will  be  spent  by  General  Smith  in  New 
York  to  get  you  the  presents." 

Red  Cloud  replied,  "  I  do  not  want  to  go  that 
way.  I  want  a  straight  line.  I  have  seen  enough 
of  towns.  There  are  plenty  of  stores  between 
here  and  my  home,  and  there  is  no  occasion  to 
go  out  of  the  way  to  buy  goods.  I  have  no  busi 
ness  in  New  York.  I  want  to  go  back  the  way 
I  came.  The  whites  are  the  same  everywhere. 
I  see  them  every  day.  As  to  the  improvement 
of  the  red  men,  I  want  to  send  them  here  dele 
gates  to  Congress." 

Secretary  Cox  said  he  would  be  guided  by 
General  Smith  as  to  the  route  homeward.  He 
was  not  particularly  anxious  the  Indians  should 
go  to  New  York.  This  ended  the  interview.  The 
Indians  shook  hands  with  the  Secretary  and  Com 
missioner  Parker,  and  then  hurried  from  the 


THE  BOY'S  BOOK 


room,  followed  by  the  crowd  of  persons  who  had 
gathered  at  the  door. 

Little  Swan's  Speech. 

Little  Swan,  a  Sioux  chief,  said  to  the  Presi 
dent  about  the  Indian  situation  : 

"  What  my  Great  Father  asks  for,  peace,  is  all 
very  well.  If  I  had  my  own  way,  it  would  be 
all  right,  and  there  would  be  no  more  fighting; 
but  I  saw  in  the  Congress,  when  I  went  there, 
on  Thursday,  that  all  the  big  chiefs  there  did 
not  agree  very  well.  It  is  the  same  with  my 
young  men.  They  are  not  all  of  one  mind; 
but  I  will  do  my  best,  to  make  them  of  one 
mind,  and  to  keep  the  peace.  I  am  a  bad 
young  man,  too,  and  have  made  much  trouble. 
I  did  not  get  to  be  a  big  chief  by  good  conduct, 
but  because  I  was  a  great  fighter,  like  you,  my 
Great  Father." 

These  words  were  really  delivered.  The  allu 
sion  to  Congress  and  to  the  President  hit  the  nail 
on  the  head ;  at  least,  it  is  thought  so. 

Spotted  Tail  in  New  York. 

On  the  14th  of  June,  the  four  lords  of  the 
desert,  Spotted  Tail,  Swift  Bear,  Fast  Bear,  and 
Yellow  Hair,  had  a  busy  day.  They  began  in 
the  morning  with  a. visit  to  the  French  frigate, 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  197 

Magicienne,  where  they  were  received  by  Ad 
miral  Lefeber  and  his  staff,  and  a  salute  was  fired 
in  their  honor.  They  were  conducted  to  the  ad 
miral's  state-room  and  regaled  upon  cakes  and 
champagne.  The  latter  they  enjoyed  immensely, 
but  Captain  Poole  wisely  limited  them  to  one 
glass  each,  not  desiring  to  witness  a  scalping 
scene  on  his  frigate.  After  this  repast,  the  red 
men  were  conducted  all  over  the  ship.  The  ad 
miral  then  had  one  of  the  fifteen-inch  guns  loaded 
with  powder,  and  each  one  of  the  Indians  pulled 
the  lanyard  in  turn.  This  was  royal  sport  for  the 
Indians,  and  as  each  gun  was  fired  they  looked 
eagerly  for  the  splash  of  the  ball  which  they 
thought  was  in  the  cannon.  .  It  was  impossible 
to  explain  to  them  that  the  gun  was  loaded  with 
powder  only,  as  when  they  visited  the  Brooklyn 
navy-yard  a  shotted  gun  was  fired  for  their  especial 
edification,  and  their  delight  was  then  to  watch 
for  the  ball  striking  the  water. 

After  the  visit  to  the  frigate,  the  Indians  re 
turned  to  the  Astor  House,  where  a  crowd  of 
five  or  six  hundred  people  wras  assembled.  The 
private  entrance  on  Vesey  Street  was  besieged  by 
an  excited  multitude  anxious  to  get  a  peep  at  the 
"  red-skins,"  but  they  were  disappointed,  as  the 
stage  drove  up  to  the  Barclay  Street  entrance. 

Although  the}7  had  been  to  a  certain  extent 
amused  by  what  they  have  seen  in  New  York, 
still,  they  were  all  anxious  to  get  back  home. 


198  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Captain  Poole  says  that  the  crowds  which  dogged 
their  footsteps  wherever  they  went  annoyed  them 
considerably,  and  it  is  owing  to  this  that  they 
have  departed  so  abruptly.  Many  invitations 
were  sent  them,  including  one  from  James  Fisk, 
Jr.,  to  visit  his  steamers,  and  one  from  the  officers 
of  the  turret  ship  Miantonomah.  Spotted  Tail, 
however,  declined  to  accept  either,  being  tired 
of  Eastern  life.  He  also  refused  to  take  a  trip 
up  the  Hudson,  saying  that  he  and  his  brethren 
all  wanted  to  go  home. 

Before  the  Indians'  departure  from  Washing 
ton,  President  Grant  handed  four  hundred  dol 
lars  to  Captain  Poole,  and  directed  that  each 
chief  should  choose  presents  to  the  value  of  one 
hundred  dollars.  They  were  accordingly  taken 
to  an  up-town  store,  where  each  tilled  a  large 
trunk  with  articles  of  various  kinds.  Combs, 
brushes,  umbrellas,  blankets,  and  beads  seemed 
particularly  to  please  their  fancy.  Swift  Bear 
wanted  to  take  about  a  dozen  umbrellas,  but  was 
dissuaded  from  it  by  Captain  Poole. 

They  took  a  Pacific  Railroad  car  on  the  Hudson 
River  Railroad,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

Red  Cloud  in  New  York. 

Red  Cloud  changed  his  mind,  and  came  on  to 
New  York  to  attend  a  great  meeting  of  friends 
of  the  red  men,  at  Cooper  Institute.  On  the 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  199 

evening  of  June  16th,  the  party  were  treated  to 
a  grand  reception,  at  which  it  was  supposed  that 
no  less  than  five  thousand  were  present.  Among 
other  things,  Red  Cloud  said  : 

"  I  have  tried  to  get  from  my  Great  Father 
what  is  right  and  just.  I  have  not  altogether 
succeeded.  I  want  you  to  believe  with  me,  to 
know  with  me,  that  which  is  right  and  just.  I 
represent  the  whole  Sioux  nation.  They  will  be 
grieved  by  what  I  represent.  I  am  no  Spotted 
Tail,  who  will  say  one  thing  one  day,  and  be 
bought  for  a  fish  the  next.  Look  at  me  !  I  am 
poor,  naked,  but  I  am  chief  of  a  nation.  We  do 
not  ask  for  riches ;  we  do  not  want  much ;  but 
we  want  our  children  properly  trained  and 
brought  up.  We  look  to  you  for  that.  Riches 
here  do  no  good.  We  cannot  take  them  away 
with  us  out  of  this  world,  but  we  want  to  have 
love  and  peace.  The  money,  the  riches,  that  we 
have  in  this  world,  as  Secretary  Cox  lately  told 
me,  we  cannot  take  these  into  the  next  world 
If  this  is  so,  I  would  like  to  know  why  the  Com 
missioners  who  are  sent  out  there  do  nothing  but 
rob  to  get  the  riches  of  this  world  away  from  us. 
I  was  brought  up  among  traders  and  those  who 
came  out  there  in  the  early  times.  I  had  good 
times  with  them;  they  treated  me  mostly  always 
right ;  always  well ;  they  taught  me  to  use 
clothes,  to  use  tobacco,  to  use  fire-arms  an i  am 
munition.  This  was  all  very  well  until  the  Great 


200  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

Father  sent  another  kind  of  men  out  there, — men 
who  drank  whisky  ;  men  who  were  so  bad  that 
the  Great  Father  could  not  keep  them  at  home, 
so  he  sent  them  out  there." 


Reception  of  Red  Cloud  at  Home. 

.Doubtless  speculators  and  contractors  were  dis- 
.ppointed  when  they  heard,  on  General  Smith's 
return,  of  Red  Cloud's  satisfaction,  and  what  he 
said  about  being  peaceable,  and  using  his  influ 
ence  among  his  warriors.  A  thousand  lodges 
were  gathered  to  receive  him,  and  the  demon 
strations  made  over  his  return  exceeded  any  the 
.oldest  Indian  had  ever  seen  before. 

On  the  way  out,  Red  Cloud  gave  General 
Smith  his  reason  for  asking  the  government  for 
the  seventeen  horses.  He  did  not  really  need 
them,  but  made  up  his  mind  that  if  he  had  been 
sent  back  on  foot  from  Pine  Bluff,  or  Fort 
Laramie,  his  tribes  might  think  he  was  lightly 
esteemed  by  our  authorities,  and  thereupon  they 
might  begin  to  despise  him.  His  influence  would 
decrease,  and  he  might  be  unsuccessful  in  pre 
venting  war.  He  merely  wished  to  accept  of 
them  as  a  tribute  to  his  exalted  position  as  a 
great  warrior  among  his  people.  The  general 
said  that  his  appearance,  with  his  whole  party 
well  mounted,  had  the  desired  effect,  and  Red 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  201 

Cloud's  warriors  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  chief 
was  believed  to  be  a  great  warrior  by  the  Great 
Father  at  Washington. 


CONCLUSION. 

Boys  love  fair  play,  and  I  know  they  will  make 
every  allowance  for  the  poor  Indian,  who  is,  in 
his  wild  state,  indeed  a  savage,  born  and  bred  up 
among  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest ;  untutored 
and  cruel  to  his  enemies,  whether  man  or  beast. 
We  must  take  him  as  we  find  him,  then,  and  not 
as  some  sensation  writers  would  make  us  believe, 
to  be  more  noble  and  generous  than  many  white 
men.  For  we  may  find  many  noble  examples  of 
generosity  among  them,  in  freeing  captives  and 
forgiving  wrongs  done  to  them  ;  but  they  have 
been  for  over  two  hundred  years  victims  of  the 
white  man's  dishonest  dealings,  and  I  think  that 
we  would  do  pretty  much  as  the  Indian  does,  if 
we  were  Indians,  and  had  been  taught  the  lesson 
of  our  forefathers'  wrongs.  The  Indian  agents 
have  been  in  former  years  mostly  dishonest,  and 
cheated  those  they  should  have  remembered  were 
simple  children  of  the  forest;  and  though  they 
were  knowing  enough  to  perceive  they  were  badly 
dealt  with  and  did  not  get  their  due,  could  not 
tell  just  where  the  cheating  came  in.  You  re 
member  the  story  of  a  white  man  and  an  Indian 
going  a  hunting  on  shares.  Well,  they  killed  a 


202  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

wild  turkey  and  a  buzzard,  the  latter  good  for 
naught.  They  sat  down  on  a  log  to  divide  the 
game.  "  Now,"  said  the  white  man,  "  You  take 
the  huzzard,  and  I'll  take  the  turkey ;  or,  I'll 
take  the  turkey,  and  you  take  the  buzzard."  The 
Indian  opened  his  eyes  wide,  and  replied,  u  Seems 
to  me  you  talk  all  buzzard  to  me,  and  no  talk 
turkey." 

Very  little  "  talk  turkey"  has  the  Indian  expe 
rienced  in  dealing  with  the  whites.  Indeed,  you 
can  judge  of  fair  dealing,  or  want  of  it,  when  it 
is  known  that  an  agent  came  out  our  way  to  pay 
off  annuities  with  blankets,  etc.  These  were 
u  shoddy  blankets,"  and  when  one  tribe  was  paid 
off  with  them,  the  agent  bought  them  all  back 
again  with  bad  whisky,  and  went  on  farther,  to 
pay  off  other  tribes  in  like  manner. 

So  one  agent  carried  out.  to  California  some 
annuity  goods  to  pay  off  Indians,  according  to 
treaty,  and  among  them  were  several  thousand  elastics  ; 
and  yet  no  Indian  wears  a  stocking  ! 

The  bad  Indians  must  be  punished,  just  as  bad 
boys,  who  do  wrong ;  and  the  army  alone  can  deal 
with  refractory  Indians,  whose  tender  mercies  are  most 
cruel  to  white  men,  women,  and  children. 

General  Sherman  came  out  here  in  1868  as  one 
of  "  the  Peace  Commission,"  to  personally  inves 
tigate  the  whole  matter.  On  his  arrival  at  Chey 
enne  and  at  Denver,  a  large  number  of  pioneers 
were  ready  to  insult  him,  because  he  would  not 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  203 

make  a  speech,  and  authorize  them  to  band  to 
gether  and  kill  Indians  wherever  found  !* 

This  idol  of  the  American  people  they  were 
not  willing  to  trust  to  do  justice  to  both  parties, 
after  visiting  among  the  tribes  on  the  plains, 
and  in  New  Mexico,  and  seen  things  for  him 
self.  Such  is  human  nature.  But  the  general 
could  wait  his  time,  and  the  judgment  of  the 
whole  people  will  be, to  give  him  credit  .fora  far- 
sighted  policy,  the  result  of  a  wise  head  and  an 
understanding  heart,  that  swerves  neither  to  the 
right  hand  nor  the  left,  so  it  be  in  the  plain  path 
of  duty  !  Why  not  believe  and  trust  him  in  the 
future,  as  we  have  in  the  past  ?  We  are  to 
f.ake  care  how  we  draw  down  upon  our  nation 
God's  anger  for  Devious  years  of  injustice  and 
bad  treatment ;  and  if  General  Grant  had  done 
nothing  more  to  signalize  his  administration  than 
the  appointment  of  honest  agents  to  look  after 
the  welfare  of  Indians  on  reservations,  while  leav 
ing  to  Generals  Sherman  and  Sheridan  the  deal 
ing  with  wild,  refractory  bands  of  pagan  savages, 
roaming  over  the  settlements  on  the  plains,  to  do 
their  murderous  work  of  brutalities  that  sicken 
the  heart  to  contemplate,  and  make  to  the  suf- 

*  A  man  whom  I  had  some  respect  for,  said  to  me  at  this 
time,  "  If  we  can  get  up  a  smart  Indian  war  now,  wouldn't  it 
be  the  making  of  Qheyenne?"  He  had.  an  eye  to  an  army 
contract.  General  Sherman  would  \  robably  have  called  him 
a  "  bummer." 


204  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

ferers  a  welcome  death  as  speedily  as  possible, — 
he  would  be  one  of  the  greatest  Presidents  we 
have  had. 

I  have  thus  tried  to  give  an  impartial  history 
of  the  "Indian  Question,"  showing  the  character 
istics  of  our  white  settlers  in  their  treatment  of 
the  Indians ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  painting 
the  savage  as  he  is,  in  his  wild,  cruel  nature,  and 
with  whom  we  have  to  deal  with  all  the  wisdom 
our  government  can  devise.  I  have  done  so 
with  a  purpose.  This  is  to  show  how  little 
Christianity  has  done  thus  far  to  make  white 
men  just,  fair,  and  honorable,  and  to  gain  the 
respect  of  the  red  man  for  the  Christian's  God. 
It  is  a  sad  reflection,  too,  that  we  are  doing  so 
little,  and  that  the  world's  conversion  is  so  far, 
so  very  far  away  in  the  future.  There  is  a  dread 
ful  responsibility  resting  somewhere  ! 

If  our  religion  is  not  a  sham,  we  must  meet 
the  question  as  it  has  never  been  met  before. 
Infidelity  has  no  surer  or  more  deadly  weapon 
than  that  which  it  wields  to-day  against  our  pro 
fessions  of  love  for  the  souls  of  our  fellow-men, 
while  we  content  ourselves  with  expressions  only 
of  that  love.  It  is  hollow,  superficial,  and  full 
of  cant.  If  our  religion  does  not  take  a  deeper 
form,  and  go  out  in  active  sympathy  and  work, 
it  will  surely  perish,  and  deserves  to  perish. 
Men  ask  for  results,  and  it  is  right  they  should. 
The  tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  We  cannot 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  205 

gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles.  This 
is  Christ's  standard.  Do  we  belong  to  Him,  or 
are  we  false,  hypocritical  children  of  the  Evil 
One? 

Our  Saviour  said,  "  It  must  needs  be  that 
offences  come ;  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom 
the  offence  cometh  !"  Now,  if  so  be  that  God, 
who  is  just,  shall  require  that  we  atone  for  all  the 
wrongs  perpetrated  upon  the  red  men  ever  since 
the  Mayflower  landed  her  pilgrims  on  the  shores 
of  New  England  (for  there  is  no  repentance  for 
nations  at  the  day  of  judgment),  .or  that  our 
children  shall  suffer  in  some  way  for  it, — who 
shall  say  it  is  not  a  righteous  retribution  ? 
"Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the 
Lord." 

LORD'S    PRAYER   IN   SIOUX   LANGUAGE. 

Ate-un-yan-pi,  Mar-pi-ya,  ekta,  nan-ke-cin,  Ni- 
caje,  wa-kan-da-pi,  kta,  Ni-to-ki-con-ze,  ukte, 
Mar-pi-ya,  ekta,  ni-taw-a-cin,  econ-pi,  kin,  nun- 
we ;  au-pe-tu,  kin,  de,  au-pe-tu,  iyoki,  aguyapi, 
kin,  un-ju,  miye. 

Qu,  un-kix,  una,  e-ciux-in-yan,  ecaun-ki,  con-pi, 
nicun-ki-ci-ca-ju-ju-pi;  he,  iye-cen,  wau-ur-tan-ipi, 
kui,  un-ki-ci-ca-ju-ju,  miye.  Qa,  taku,  wani-yu- 
tan,  kin,  en,  unkayapa,  xui,  pa,  Tuka,  taku,  vice, 
cin,  etanhan,  eunt-da-ku-pi.  Wo-ki-con-ze-kin, 
no-wax-a  ki,  kin,  ga,  wouitan,  kin,  hena-kiy,  a, 
ouihanke,  wanin,  nitavva,  heon.  Amen. 


206  THE  BOY'S  BOOK 

The  name  of  God  is  Wakantanka.    The  name 
of  the  Lord  is  Itaukan. 


APOSTLES'  CREED. 

Wakantanka  iyotan  Waxaka  Atezapikin  par- 
pia,  maka  ijahna  kage  cin,  he  wicawada: 

Qua  Jesus  Christ  Itankan  unyapi,he  Cinhintku 
hece  un  Mary  eciyapi  kin,  utanhan  toupi;  Pontius 
Pilate  kakixya,  Canicipauega,  en  okantanpi,  te 
qua  rapi;  Wanagi  yakonpi  etka  I,  lyamnican  ake 
kini ;  Wankan  marpiya  ekta  iyaye.  Qua  Wakan 
tanka,  ateyapi  iyotan  waxaka  yanke  cin,  etapa 
kin  eciy  atanhan  iyotanka ;  Heciyatankan  meaxta 
nipi,  qua  tapi  kin,  hena  yuuytaya  nicayaco  u 
kta,  Woniya  Wakan  kin  he  wicauada ;  Omniciza, 
wakan  Owaneaya  kin  Owaneaya  kin,  Wicaxta 
Wakan  Okodakiciye  kin ;  Woartani  kajujupi  kin; 
Wicatancan  kini  kte  cin;  Qua  wicociououihanke 
wanin  ce  cin ;  Hena  ouasin  wieawada.  Amen. 

DISTANCES. 

From  Omaha  to  Cheyenne  is  five  hundred  and 
sixteen  miles ;  Cheyenne  to  Greeley,  on  Cache-la- 
poudre  River,  fifty-four  miles;  Cheyenne  to  Den 
ver,  one  hundred  and  eleven  miles;  same  to 
Golden  City;  Cheyenne  to  Sherman, thirty-three 
miles  (this  is  eight  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty-two  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea);  to 


ABOUT  INDIANS.  207 

Fort  Sanders,  fifty-four  miles;  Laramie  City,  fifty- 
six  miles ;  Salt  Lake,  five  hundred  and  thirty-five 
miles;  Salt  Lake  to  Lake's  Crossing,  Truckee 
River,  four  hundred  and  ninety-nine  miles ; 
Truckee  to  Sacramento,  one  hundred  and  nine 
teen  miles;  thence  to  San  Francisco,  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-four  miles;  Omaha  to  San 
Francisco,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-two  miles. 

Cheyenne,  northwest  to  Fort  Fetterman,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles;  Fort  Reno  (aban 
doned),  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  miles ; 
Fort  Phil.  Kearney  (abandoned),  three  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  miles ;  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  four 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  miles;  Helena,  Mon 
tana,  six  hundred  and  nine  miles;  Junction  of 
Bear  River  to  City  of  Rocks,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-one  miles ;  to  Boise  City,  three  hundred 
and  ninety-three  miles  ;  to  Idaho  City,  four  hun 
dred  and  forty  miles  ;  to  Owyhee,  four  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles ;  to  Fort  Ellis,  Montana, 
six  hundred  miles;  to  Fort  Brown,  Sweetwater, 
four  hundred  and  forty- two  miles. 


THE   END. 


